New On Sang Poultry

New On Sang Poultry in olden days
sold live chickens every day
same chickens were killed after a sale
mom could get fresh chicken then without fail.
it’s been a few years, no more killing fowls on site.
New On Sang has retired, taking flight.

I stayed outside while my mom goes inside to buy a chicken. I just don’t like going into these type of places. Sad.

The place is now called «San Francisco Poultry». Over on Grant, one street away from the madness of the Stockton grocers, San Francisco Poultry is one of the cleaner meat venues in Chinatown. The inside is shiny and well-​kept, with a counter stuffed to the brim with freshly butchered chickens and chicken parts. All of the grisly work is done in the back room, so potentially squeamish customers need not be afraid.
$ 8.50 gets you a whole brown chicken, usually around 3 or 4 pounds (head and feet still attached). Super fresh, and extra delicious — I usually pick one up Saturday afternoon, roast it for Sunday dinner, and feed off the leftovers for the rest of the week.
Unilocalers who protest the cruelty of this place have never seen or read about industrial American chicken farming. By comparison, these chickens are living in paradise.

to my fellow Unilocalers who think this is funny. @#!C $O¡
you can not imagine how horrible this store is.

The chicken from NOSP is the best. The flavor or the meat is better than any grocery store chicken. You can keep it in your ‘fridge at home for three days before it smells like Safeway chicken the day you buy it.
Tourists and foolish «locals» (who have moved here from everywhere) giggle and gag at the window display of various bird body parts on beds of crushed ice as they pass. What? They don’t have CHICKEN where you’re from???
The only reason I’m docking a star is because communicating what you want in English is so hard. Some of the employees speak OK English but they aren’t familiar with terms like «leg quarters» so there is a lot of pointing and head shaking. If the piece you want isn’t precut on the ice it can get frustrating. A small inconvenience.
The butcher gives you your pieces of chicken in a heavy duty plastic bag (perfect for a maranade), you hand it to the cashier and she bags it in a pink Chinatown bag. Easy peasy.

I never bought anything from here although have walked by many times in the past, but if you come from an über old school Chinese or arguably of any Asian descent background this kind of poultry store should not be a stranger to you. Unfortunately a place like this that was common, is now as rare as hen’s teeth.
So what’s the big deal about this place? Well it’s right by the edge of Chinatown on grant with a few blocks away from Columbus and Broadway. It’s also famous for its «no photography allowed» sign, specifically aimed towards PETA and their pro furry feather veeeeeeeeeeegan friends who love to protest to the city government, while denying the locals their rights to tradition and the importance of fresh kills for the freshest tasting food.
Let’s put it this way. Would you rather have fresh fruit and vegetables practically harvested within an hour or two (or less), right off the ground at the farm, or buy it when it is at least a few days old and refrigerated in cardboard cases, trucked to your favorite Whole Paycheck, Saaaafeeeeeway (as how some first gen Chinese might pronounce it), or Luckbertsons/​Albucky supermarket whose name seems to change every other marketing moment?
The same thing applies to chicken or yes… fish.
There are prices inside for all sorts of game and common farm poultry. The common chicken and also the black chicken variety that makes excellent soups and broths (and also has certain healing properties when stewed with certain Chinese herbs).
The idea is this:
You go in, you ask for what you want, and they basically go inside the cage, pick a fresh LIVE AND KICKING bird for you. Kill it on the spot, clean it, pluck its feathers, chop it up, and even clean and gut it for you.
Choose to keep the giblets if you want and other «nasty bits» that is, the liver, kidneys, heart, the ass (aka the bishop’s nose, the BEST part is a piece of roasted chicken BADONKADONK!!!) or the head. But honestly, there’s nothing like a plump juicy ass (chicken that is). I LIKE BIG BUTTS (chicken that is) and I CANNOT LIE.
Speaking of the head, it’s usually a decorative piece at a Chinese restaurant. The running joke for at least in Taiwanese and Chinese traditions, is that if you order a full chicken dish, they usually include the head and the tail for meaningful/​good luck purposes and maybe during the New Year. But some think that whoever the head points to, is a synonym and reference/​hint/​omen/​curse that he or she will lose his or her job! So yeah better point that head somewhere else. After all it’s a CHOPPED OFF HEAD. End of side story.
Sound familiar? Duh… when you buy a F***KING LIVE FISH from 99 Ranch or Marina Supermarket (outside of SF Chinatown) or some Chinese supermarket/​market that has live fish tanks, it’s the same thing. Kill and sold to order. Hopefully you cook that mutha with your favorite receipe and consume it for the best effects.
And here’s one thing that’s interesting. The interior, at least the «waiting area» the floor is clean, unlike at the poultry/​meat/​fish markets in Hong Kong during the 80s where the floors are always wet (because there’s a lotta killin’ going on, and fish/​pork/​beef/​chicken blood is spewing all over the floors and the vendors have to hose them down so the gunk n’ funk goes down the drainage).
The catch is, yeah the place smells a bit. Smells of live chickens, but since the chickens are caged, you bet there’s gonna be some stinky as well. Can’t have it both ways…

I found On Sang Poultry in the Food Lover’s Guide to San Francisco (A Great Book, btw). Indeed it is the freshest, best tasting poultry in the city. This evening i just fried up some chicken legs ($ 1.59/lb) and the meat is simply better in every way — even better than the best organically grown, range-​raised pultry at Whole Foods and Bryan’s market and other fine grocers. Wonderful stuff!