White meat or dark meat? I’m definitely a wing and dark meat gal, preferring the juicier, more flavorful, more tender and harder-to-overcook parts of the chicken. I think most Asians prize the dark meat (I know it’s a gross generalization, but I’ve never met an Asian who didn’t like dark meat!)

Scott, on the other hand, is breast meat all the way. When we first started dating, I had to re-learn how to cook chicken properly. All I used to care about was roasting, stir-frying or grilling the thigh, wing and leg portions perfectly, not even giving a second thought to the breast, which cooks faster than its dark brothas and sistahs. Most of the time, the breast meat and bones went into broth-making anyways. I also had a Jack Russell terrier who was spoiled with slightly overcooked and a touch dry chicken breast dinners.

The argument for eating chicken breast is that “it’s healthier” – but just HOW MUCH healthier?

According to an article from Josh Ozersky on Time Magazine, the difference isn’t as great as you might think.

From U.S. Department of Agriculture:

100 grams of white meat – 0.56 g of saturated fat and 114 calories
100 grams of dark meat has 1 g of saturated fat and 119 calories. 

To save .46 grams + 3 calories, I’ll take the dark meat any day!

Men’s Health article: “The extra fat in dark turkey or chicken meat raises your levels of cholecystokinin (CCK), a hormone that makes you feel fuller, longer.”

Live Science: “A nutrient called taurine, found abundantly in poultry dark meat, significantly lowered the risk of coronary heart disease in women with high cholesterol, the study revealed. The researchers said that taurine also might help protect against diabetes and high blood pressure.”

Slate: The Dark Side of the Bird: “Dark chicken meat is also nutrient rich, containing higher levels of iron, zinc, riboflavin, thiamine, and vitamins B6 and B12 than white meat.”

Despite this research, Scott still prefers the breast. Which is just fine by me – we don’t have to fight over who gets which part of the chicken! We each call dibs on our own section.

I’ve made a Healthy version of General Tso’s Chicken – one of Scott’s favorites – using white meat, of course – but feel free to substitute with boneless, skinless dark meat