There’s dark meat, and then there’s really dark meat. If you’ve ever shopped in Chinatown, you may have seen markets selling black-skinned chickens. If you were to pull back the skin, you’d find that the meat is black too, including the “white” meat portions. In fact, even the bones are black.

These are Taihe chickens, a species named after Taihe County in China’s Jiangxi province. They’re often called black-bone or silky chickens, the latter colloquialism referring to their puffy, fleece-like plumage. The feathers can range anywhere from black to snowy white, but the indicator of the meat’s color is the bird’s tongue: If the tongue is black, so is the rest of the chicken.

The Chinese believe silky chickens have medicinal or restorative powers, especially for women who’ve recently given birth. The ebony birds are available at Chinese markets and live poultry outlets throughout the city and generally cost at least 50% more than a standard chicken, although they tend to be on the scrawny side. If you’re buying one, keep in mind that it will probably come with the head and feet attached. Squeamish sorts should stick to Perdue.

Once cooked, a silky chicken’s skin remains black but the underlying meat turns a dull gray. And how’s the flavor? At the risk of invoking a cliche, it tastes like chicken. In a blindfold test, you’d be hard-pressed to distinguish a silky bird from a regular one. But the thighs, of course, taste better than the breast.