Beggar chicken, a famous food in Jiangnan, has a long history. It is a special dish made by wrapping the processed chicken with soil and lotus leaves and baking it. Anyone who has read Jin Yong's novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes must know this dish. Wrap the chicken in mud, set fire to the mud, and the chicken will be cooked when the mud is heated. Also known as rich chicken, it was originally created by beggars, so it is called flower chicken.

According to legend, when Zhu Yuanzhang led the troops to fight Jiangshan, he once lost the battle and ran for three days and three nights. The enemy pursued him, and Zhu Yuanzhang was tired and hungry. At this time, he saw a fire on the ground in front of him and a pile of mud in the middle. Next to him is an old man named Hua.

Zhu Yuanzhang asked curiously, "What are you doing here?" When Hua (Hua) saw Zhu Yuanzhang, he quickly said, "I'm roasting chicken for the king." Zhu Yuanzhang was very surprised. He always asks Hua (Hua) to take the chicken out of the fire and open the mud. The smell is fragrant. Zhu Yuanzhang was full of praise while eating. "It's very delicious." From then on, Zhu Yuanzhang had a smooth journey and became emperor. Later, Zhu Yuanzhang named the chicken "Fu Gui Chicken".

Food related to beggars

Beggars' Donkey Sauce is one of the most local delicacies in China. It originated in Changwu County and is based in Xianyang City. The sixth batch of intangible cultural heritage list in Shaanxi Province was published, and the production skills of beggar's sauce donkey were also on the list, and Changwu beggar's sauce donkey was also known by more people.

According to legend, during the Republic of China, a sudden drought forced countless refugees to leave their homes and gather in the streets of Beijing to beg. There is a restaurant in Beijing that specializes in donkey meat sauce. The boss is so kind that he can't bear to watch the refugees starve, so he gives food to every refugee beggar passing by his shop. Suddenly one day, a fire broke out in this street, and all the shops along the street were spared. Only boss Li's sauce donkey meat shop survived under the desperate fire protection of victims and beggars. Boss Li is very moved. In order to thank the beggars, he changed the name of the shop to "beggar's sauce donkey".