Beggar’s chicken is a Chinese delicacy and the city of Hangzhou’s most famous dish, consisting of only one ingredient – a whole chicken. The secret is in the preparation method: the stuffed chicken is tightly wrapped in lotus leaves, packed in clay, and baked in a special oven or over an open fire, resulting in tender, moist, and aromatic meat, along with being one of the visually most interesting dishes in existence.
Once the dish has been served, the hard outer shell is often cracked open with a hammer. Legend has it that a starving beggar was in possession of a chicken but had no means to prepare it, so in a stroke of genius, he covered it with mud and baked it over an open fire.
A Qing-dynasty Emperor happened to walk by and was attracted by the aroma, so he stopped and consumed it with the beggar. He liked it so much that he added it to the list of dishes to be served at the Imperial court. Today, the dish is enjoyed either in restaurants or as a street food, with the meat falling off the bone, and the lotus leaves giving it its signature fragrance.
Chinese Beggar’s Chicken (乞兒雞)
Course: MainCuisine: ChineseDifficulty: Difficult4
servings30
minutes4
hours300
kcal4
hours30
minutesBeggar’s chicken is a Chinese delicacy and the city of Hangzhou’s most famous dish, consisting of only one ingredient – a whole chicken. The secret is in the preparation method: the stuffed chicken is tightly wrapped in lotus leaves, packed in clay, and baked in a special oven or over an open fire, resulting in tender, moist, and aromatic meat, along with being one of the visually most interesting dishes in existence.
Ingredients
Chicken (whole)
2 tbsp Chinese Cooking Wine
3 tbsp Five spice Powder (Cinnamon, Fennel seeds, Clove, Star Anise and Sichuan Pepper)
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
4 Lotus leaves
Caul Fat
2 kg Bonsai soil
400 ml water
- For stuffing
2 thinly chopped shallots
12 Orange daylilies
3 Cloud Ear Fungus
Chicken giblets (Liver, kidneys, intestine)
2 tsp Oyster Sauce
1 tsp sugar
Sesame oil
Directions
- For marination
- Marinade the chicken with Chinese Cooking Wine
- Salt the chicken inside out
- Rub five spice powder and soy sauce on the chicken and let it rest for 30 mins
- In a bowl take orange daylilies and cloud ear fungus and soak them in cold water
- Take 4 pieces of lotus leaves and steam for 5 mins to release flavour
- For Soil (This is will be a little messier)
- Pour the soil in a big container, then pour 400 ml of water into the bowl
- Leave for 20 mins before breaking it down.
- Mix the soil well until the consistency is thick
- For stuffing
- Chop the onions, daylilies, cloud ear fungus
- Heat up a wok over medium-high heat and pour 2 tbsp oil
- Add the shallots and stir fry for 1 minute
- Then add remaining ingredients and stir fry for 2 minutes
- Pour 1 tbsp of Chinese Cooking wine and stir well
- Then add 2 tsp of oyster sauce and 1 tsp of sugar
- Mix well turn off the heat and stir in half a tsp of sesame oil
- For Chicken
- Lay 3 lotus leaves on top of each other
- Lay a layer of caul fat on top and transfer the chicken on it
- Stuff the chicken with stir fried ingredients
- Lay another layer of caul fat on top of the chicken
- Then wrap it with the first layer of lotus leaf
- Flip it over and wrap it with a second layer.
- Flip it over then third layer
- On a roasting tray, lay the last piece of lotus leaf at the bottom of the tray
- Put the wrapped chicken on top
- Then cover the chicken completely with the soil. Make sure the sides are well covered
- Preheat the oven on full blast (250 C) and roast the chicken for 90 mins.
- After 90 mins, turn down the heat to 160 C for another 120 mins
- After 3 and half hours the chicken is ready
- Break the soil with a hammer and transfer the chicken to a plate
- Cut it open and we shall see the cooked chicken
- That’s it!
