The beggar chicken has a history of more than 300 years. Originated in Changshu, Jiangsu, also known as yellow mud stewed chicken. According to legend, a beggar begged along the way and went to a village in Changshu. One day, he got a chicken quickly, and wanted to slaughter it for cooking, but he didn't have any cooking utensils or seasonings. So he slaughtered the chicken, covered it with yellow mud and put it into the embers of the fire to dry and roast it. After the chicken was cooked, the mud shell was peeled off, and the chicken feathers were stripped off, revealing the tender chicken. Later, this technique of mud roasting was introduced into restaurants, and after continuous improvement, this "beggar chicken" became a traditional famous dish with unique flavor.

There is a key to making beggar chicken.

Jar mud is mud used to seal jars, and it is specially used to make beggar chickens because of its distiller's grains smell. If there is no jar mud, it can also be replaced by clay or yellow mud, but when diluted, a lot of flour should be added to the yellow mud to prevent the mud from cracking and the fragrance from escaping during baking. Remember that when spreading mud, the thickness is about 2.5 cm, and the thickness should be uniform, so as to avoid uneven heating and chicken burning or undercooked.