Beggar’s Chicken Recipe(Recipe of China) |
Ingredients: Oven: Preheat to 180°C |
One 1.5 kg chicken (preferably free-range chicken) ¼ cup salt For the marinade: 3 tablespoons Mei Kuei Lu Chiew (Chinese rose wine) or gin One 3-inch cinnamon stick, broken into 4 pieces 2 pieces eight-star anise 1 tablespoon sugar 1½ teaspoons salt Pinch freshly ground white pepper For the stuffing: 1½ tablespoons peanut oil 1½ cups diced onion ½ cup pork fat, cut into ⅛-inch dice 6 dried black shiitake mushrooms, washed, soaked to softness, stems discarded, and caps diced into ½-inch pieces ¾ cup preserved mustard greens, washed 5 times to cleanse of sand salt, leaves opened and rinsed, squeezed dry and finely sliced 1 tablespoon Shao-Hsing wine (Chinese cooking wine) or dry sherry 1½ teaspoons sesame oil 1 teaspoon five-spice powder ¾ teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon sugar Pinch freshly ground white pepper For the dough: 5 cups high-gluten flour 2 cups hot water 2½ teaspoons peanut oil Special equipment needed: 1 yard cheesecloth or 2 large lotus leaves, soaked in water for 20 minutes until soft, washed and dried or 2 large pieces of wax paper. 2 pieces 2-feet heavy-duty foil |
Method: Clean the chicken thoroughly, remove fat and membranes, and wash under cold running water. Sprinkle 1/4 cup salt on the outside of the chicken, rub well, rinse, and dry. In a small bowl, stir together the marinade ingredients and rub the inside and outside with it. Set the chicken aside. To prepare the stuffing, heat a wok over high heat for 30 seconds, add the peanut oil, and coat the wok with it using a spatula. When a wisp of white smoke appears, add the onion and cook until light brown, about 5 minutes. Lower the heat to medium, add the pork fat, and cook, stirring until translucent. Add the mushrooms and mustard greens and mix well. Turn the heat back to high, add the Shao Hsing wine, and mix all the ingredients together. Add the sesame oil, five-spice powder, salt, sugar and pepper and mix. Remove from the heat, place in a bowl, and reserve. To prepare the dough, place the flour in the center of the work surface and make a well in the center. Add the hot water slowly with one hand as you mix with the other. When the water is absorbed, knead for about 2 minutes to make a dough. Coat your hands with peanut oil and rub the dough with some pressure to coat it. Rub your hands on the work surface as well. Flatten the dough until it is large enough to wrap the chicken completely. Stuff the chicken by loosely putting the stuffing into the body cavity. Close the neck and tail openings with skewers. Wrap the chicken completely in the cheesecloth or whichever material used. Place the wrapped chicken in the center of the flattened dough and wrap the chicken, sealing the edges by pressing closed with your fingers. Spread out the foil and place the chicken, breast side up, on it. Enfold the chicken, closing the foil. Place the wrapped chicken in a roasting pan and bake in the preheated oven for an hour. Lower the heat to 160°C and bake for 3 hours more. Turn off the heat, remove the chicken from the oven, and remove the foil. Cut through the dough with kitchen shears and make a large opening. Scoop out pieces of chicken and stuffing with a serving spoon and serve together. Note: The covering insulates the chicken. It will remain hot enough to serve if removed from the oven 1 to 2 hours before serving. This famous and most elaborate dish from Beijing derives its name from a folktale: A beggar, without a home or food, stole a chicken from a farm. As he has no proper kitchen and equipment to cook it, he covered it with mud, made a fire in a hole in the ground, and baked the chicken. It is said that despite this tale, the people in Beijing prefer to call this dish Fu Guai Gai or “Rich and Noble Chicken” because they feel that this special chicken dish is too rich a preparation to carry the classic name “beggar”. |
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