Beggar's Chicken

 

Below is an article about the dish known as Beggar's Chicken:



BEGGAR'S CHICKEN

I have eaten my share of chicken dishes during my lifetime. But while perusing a food history website, I came across one that originated on the other side of the world called Beggar's Chicken.

Like a good number of dishes from other parts of the world - including the United States - the origin of Beggar's Chicken seemed to be shrouded in mystery and mythology. Beggar's Chicken is a popular dish in China. And many of the country's regions have claimed it as the dish's original location. However, most experts agree the dish may have originated in Hangzhou province or the Jiangsu province.

The dish was traditionally prepared with a chicken that is first stuffed with various ingredients. Then it was wrapped in clay and lotus leaves (or banana or bamboo leaves as alternatives) and baked slowly using low heat. Preparation of a single portion of Beggar's Chicken usually took up to six hours.

Various legends surround the origins of Beggar's Chicken. One story featured a beggar who had stolen a chicken from a farm. Lacking a pot or utensils, he wrapped the bird in lotus leaves and packed clay or mud around it, set it in a hole where he had lit a fire, and buried it. When he dug up the chicken and cracked open the clay, he found the meat was tender and aromatic. In another version, the beggar stole the chicken from the Emperor of China during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and used the mud-hole method to avoid smoke that might attract the Imperial guards. When the emperor stopped to dine with the beggar, he enjoyed the dish so much that he added it to the Imperial menu. The beggar prospered by selling the dish to locals. According to another legend, Beggar's Chicken was a childhood favorite of Emperor Gaozu of Han, who had been born a peasant. When Gaozu became emperor, the recipe became an Imperial specialty.

During the present day, changes have been made for the preparation of Beggar's Chicken. Dough is sometimes substituted for clay for the dish's preparation. However, some recipes still call for the use of non-toxic clay to cover the chicken and retain moisture. Non-toxic clay can be obtained from hardware or arts and craft stores. However, cooks must pay attention when baking the dish with clay, because if too much heat may prematurely crack the clay. This might be proved to be dangerous due to the pressure buildup in the clay shell. Preparing the dish with dough is safer. Beggar's Chicken can be also prepared in ovens, outdoor grills, smokers, and campfires. Ceramic cooking pots can also be used to retain moisture, but these are expensive to purchase. But even an oven bag or aluminum foil can be used when cooking the chicken in a domestic oven.

Below is a recipe for Beggar's Chicken on the Schoolofwok.co.uk website:


Beggar's Chicken

Ingredients

1 fresh whole baby chicken (Poussin)
4 Large Lotus Leaves / Aluminium foil sheets
2-4 strong toothpicks
225 ml tepid water
150g plain flour

Marinade
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1 cube finely chopped ginger
2 teaspoons salt

Stuffing
2 dried shiitake mushrooms
1 lean pork loin steaks
2 tbsp Chinese pickled cabbage
3 spring onion ends
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 capful rice wine or dry sherry
1 tsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp five-spice powder
Salt to taste


Preparations

1. Finely chop the ginger and place in large mixing bowl.
2. Place the chicken in the bowl and add all the marinade mix well and base the chicken inside and out with the marinade.
3. Cover and place in the fridge to marinade for 1 hour.
4. Finely chop all stuffing ingredients.
5. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok and fry the finely chopped spring onions with the pork loin on high heat.
6. Once the pork is golden brown, add the mushrooms, pickled cabbage and five spice.
7. Add the soy sauce, rice wine, sugar and salt to taste.
8. Once the sauce is well mixed, add the sesame oil, bring to a high simmer and then remove from heat.
9. Stuff the marinated chicken cavity with the stuffing and pour the sauce into the cavity.
10. Close the cavity by threading the toothpicks through the skin.
11. Now wrap the whole chicken in the lotus leaves and place pouring the sauce over the chicken before closing neatly on the top of the chicken.
12. Make a dough by gradually mixing in the water with the flour in a large mixing bowl. Knead for roughly 3-5 minutes.
13. Now roll out the dough and wrap the whole lotus leaf chicken in the dough. Closing the dough together on the top of the chicken.
14. Place in the oven to cook for 45-60 mins depending on the size of the chicken.