Why does almost every part of the world eat chicken? + 8 Easy Chicken Recipes

Home cooks know this: chicken is the best go-to choice when you seek an easy and tasty source of protein. They’re easy to find and you can do anything with it.

But do you ever wonder how chickens exist in almost every part of the world? (Friendly reminder: they can’t fly.) The long history between various cultures with chicken has provided us with loads of chicken recipes. Let’s take a look at their journey all over the world and how local cultures use their creativity to create tasty foods.

The ancestor of domesticated chicken originated from Southeast Asia and 8000 thousands years ago. The domestication occurred simultaneously in various parts of Southeast Asia. No wonder why Southeast Asian countries are huge fans of chickens.

In Thailand, they combine local spices and come up with famous dishes such as Basil Turmeric Chicken and Thai Lemongrass Grilled Chicken. The fresh lemongrass, cilantro, basil, and turmeric combined created a flavor that even people nowadays still enjoy.

Not far from there, people in the island of Sumatra decided to spice things up a little bit further. They created the supreme delicacy that is Chicken Rendang. By adding loads of spices, cooking it for hours, and adding the chicken, they ended up with a mouthwatering chicken dish.

Chicken Rendang

But it turns out that chickens do also have their ambitions. They decided to travel across Southeast Asia and embarked on a journey to West Asia and the Near East. 

At the same time, a slightly different breed of domesticated chicken also existed in China and spread westward all over India. In the southwestern part of the China, they created delicious recipes such as Sichuan Mala Chicken. While in India, they made Butter Masala Chicken and other legendary chicken recipes.

From there on, chicken also spread to nearby islands such as Japan and Korea. In Japan nowadays, they coated meat with a mixture of sauces and grilled it to make Chicken Teriyaki (Fun Fact: Chicken Teriyaki popularity originates from Hawaii, not Japan!), put it over a bowl of rice, then you have everybody’s favorite Chicken Teriyaki Don. In Korea, they also found interesting ways to cook chicken, such as Korean Spicy Crispy Fried Chicken.

These mighty little creatures didn’t stop there, they reached Europe during the 8th century BC and even became the national mascot of France. But the French are also very great at cooking their “poulet”. Yep, they came up with the Chicken Cordon Bleu, the recipe itself becoming famous worldwide.

Baked Cordon Bleu

Their determination to get all over the world despite their inability to fly has provided us with a lot of recipes to cook. Now what’s left to do is to pick one recipe to cook tonight. Happy cooking!

Find more amazing Chicken recipes on YoRipe here