White cut chicken with ginger-scallion oil (Baiqie ji)

1. Wash the chicken and clean out the cavity; in a large pot, bring the water to the boil with the salt, the 20 g of sliced ginger and the two halved spring onions.

2. Holding the chicken by the neck, dip it into the boiling water three times and lift it out so the cavity heats up too, then submerge it completely; bring back to the boil, then turn the heat to the lowest setting so the water doesn't bubble, cover and leave for 30 minutes.

3. Meanwhile fill a large bowl with iced water. Lift out the chicken and plunge it into the iced water for 10 minutes: this makes the skin taut and jelly-like and the meat juicy.

4. For the ginger-scallion oil, finely grate the 40 g of ginger, finely chop the spring onions and mix them with the salt in a heatproof bowl; heat the oil until smoking and pour it over so it sizzles.

5. Drain the chicken, brush the skin with the sesame oil, then chop it through the bone into pieces with a cleaver and arrange on a platter.

6. Serve at room temperature with the ginger-scallion oil for dipping, alongside rice.

Tip: This dish is the yardstick of Cantonese cooking: the meat next to the bone may be slightly pink, and that's fine. The cooking water makes an excellent stock – use it to cook the rice served alongside.