Beggar’s Chicken

Many people’s first impression of Beggar’s Chicken comes from Jin Yong’s “The Legend of the Condor Heroes”. Just because they can eat this chicken, Hong Qigong Only then was he willing to teach "Guo Jing" martial arts.

Hong Qigong

Hong Qigong is known as the "Nine-fingered Divine Beggar". The reason why he lost one of his ten fingers was that he once killed a righteous man because of his greedy talk. He was so angry that he cut off his index finger as punishment. But even though he lost his index finger, Hong Qigong's appetite remained unabated and he remained gluttonous.

Gourmet Hong Qigong first lost his index finger, and then later lost his special skills. Unbeknownst to you, Huang Rong relied on the delicious food to acquire Hong Qigong's unique skill "Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms" and passed it on to Guo Jing. What is the delicacy of Beggar's Chicken that makes Hong Qigong fall in love? What kind of cooking skills can lead to such magical skills?

North Beggar Hong Qigong

In the real history, there is no real inventor of this dish. There is only a folk story. According to legend, there was a man who lived in the south of the Yangtze River in ancient times. One day, the beggar collapsed due to hunger and cold. His fellow prisoners stole a hen for him, but he was suffering from the lack of a pot and a stove, so he wrapped the chicken in mud and roasted it in the fire. When he peeled it off and ate it, he unexpectedly I found this chicken to be fragrant and delicious. Later, this method was spread to restaurants, and after continuous improvement by chefs, it finally became a traditional famous dish. The characteristics are: the chicken body is white and clean, the meat is crispy and separated from the bone, and the food does not bite the teeth.

Beggar's Chicken without breaking the mud shell

Specific production method: It is best to use Yue chicken from Shaoxing and Xiaoshan as raw materials for Beggar's Chicken.

Ingredients: One clean tender hen (approximately 1500 grams in weight), 3 fresh lotus leaves, 2 grams of refined salt, 25 ml of cooked lard, 10 grams of pepper salt, 35 ml of soy sauce, 1 star anise , 100 grams of onions, 2.5 grams of MSG, 4 meters of fine linen rope, 1 gram of kaempferol, 10 grams of white sugar, 250 grams of pork net oil, 75 grams of pork shank, 1 piece of white paper, 5 grams of green onions, 75 ml of Shaoxing wine, wine 3500 grams of altar sealing mud and 5 grams of shredded ginger.

1. Washing and killing: Slaughter the hen, remove its feathers, wash it, and make an opening of about 3.5 cm under the left wing; take out the internal organs and trachea, rinse them with water, and drain them. Chop off the chicken feet, take out the main bones of the chicken wings and leg bones, and break the neck bones for easy dressing while roasting.

2. Marinate: Grind the kaempferol and star anise into powder, put it into a clay bowl, add Shaojiu wine, soy sauce, sugar, refined salt, green onions and shredded ginger, mix well, and marinate the chicken. 15 minutes, turning 2 to 3 times during this period to allow the seasoning to penetrate into the chicken evenly.

3. Stir-fried ingredients: Cut the pork leg and green onions into shreds. Heat the wok over high heat, grease the wok with oil, add 25 ml of cooked lard, add Beijing shreds and pork shreds and stir-fry thoroughly, add Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, refined salt and MSG, fry until cooked and set aside.

4. Bandaging: First fill the chicken belly with the fried ingredients from the incision under the chicken armpit, then pour in the marinated chicken marinade, then wrap the chicken body with lard oil, first use Wrap 2 pieces of lotus leaf paper, wrap the second layer with a layer of transparent paper, wrap another lotus leaf, and then tie two cross shapes with hemp rope.

5. Smear mud: Smash the wine jar mud, add Shaoxing wine sediment, coarse salt and water to make it tough, spread it evenly on a warm cloth, put the rolled chicken in the middle, and use your hands to Dip water and pat around the wet cloth to make the mud stick firmly to the hemp rope. Then remove the wet cloth and wrap it in white newspaper to prevent the soil from falling off during baking.

6. Simmering and roasting: Use an oven at a high temperature of 200 degrees to cook the chicken body in the mud ball to prevent the chicken from deteriorating and changing flavor due to low temperature. After 40 minutes, adjust the temperature to about 160 degrees and continue baking for 3 to 4 hours until cooked. When simmering and roasting, be sure to keep the belly of the chicken facing up in the mud ball to prevent oil from leaking out.

Beggar Boy