How to Say "Chicken Meat" in Japanese

鶏肉

keiniku[ke̞ːɲ̟ikɯ̟]

The English phrase "chicken meat" is translated into Japanese as 鶏肉 (keiniku).

鶏肉 refers specifically to the edible flesh of a chicken used as food.

Which one should you use?

While 鶏肉 refers specifically to the meat, 鶏 refers to the animal itself.

keiniku

While 鶏肉 is the standard term, you will often see chicken listed as 若鶏 meaning 'young chicken' on Japanese menus to signal tenderness.
While 鶏肉 is the standard term, in casual settings or specific cooking shows, you might hear people use the katakana word チキン (chikin) to refer to processed or western-style chicken products. This creates a distinction between traditional 'meat' and modern 'chicken' products.
Japanese has a specific term 焼き鳥 meaning 'grilled bird' for the popular snack food, which uses many different parts of the 鶏肉.

鍋にごま油を中火で熱し、にんにく、鶏肉を入れて炒め、色が変わったら中華スープと白菜を入れて煮る。
Heat sesame oil in the pan on a medium flame, add the chicken meat, the garlic and fry, when the colour changes pour in the Chinese soup, add the Chinese cabbage and boil.
This sentence shows how to use 鶏肉 when stir-frying ingredients in a pan.
Tatoeba #75830 by bunbuku, translation #327888 by U2FS
料理人が鶏肉をバーべキューしています。
The cook is barbecuing the chicken meat.
This sentence demonstrates the use of 鶏肉 in the context of barbecuing.
Tatoeba #928615 by Sango, translation #2660348 by WestofEden
私は鶏肉が好きです。
I like chicken meat.
この料理には新鮮なチキンを使用しています。
This dish contains fresh chicken.
今晩鳥肉が食べたいな。
I want to eat chicken tonight.
オーブンで作ったチキンは最高だ！
The chicken cooked in the oven is amazing!
スーパーで鶏肉を買いました。
Sūpā de toriniku o kaimashita.
I bought chicken meat at the supermarket.

Ren and Himari are deciding what to cook for dinner.

蓮 Ren

今日の夕食に何を食べたい？
Kyō no yūshoku ni nani o tabetai?
What do you want to eat for dinner today?
陽葵 Himari

鶏肉を使った料理がいいな。
Toriniku o tsukatta ryōri ga ii na.
I'd like a dish using chicken meat.
蓮 Ren

じゃあ、唐揚げを作ろうか。
Jā, karaage o tsukurō ka.
Then, shall we make fried chicken?
陽葵 Himari

いい考えだね、蓮！
Ii kangae da ne, Ren!
That's a great idea, Ren!

Sources

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