Beggar’s Chicken

Name: Beggar’s Chicken
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: China
Ingredients: 2 spring onions/scallions, chopped; ½ small carrot, coarsely grated; 150 g/5 oz/generous ½ cup minced/ground pork or chicken; 150 g/5 oz/generous ½ cup minced/ground pork or chicken; 2.5 ml/½ tsp ground white pepper; 5 ml/1 tsp sesame oil; 30 ml/2 tbsp light soy sauce; 2 spring onions/scallions, chopped; 90 g/3½ oz dried vegetable (mui choi); 90 g/3½ oz dried vegetable (mui choi); 4 dried shiitake mushrooms; 2 egg whites, lightly beaten; 1 small onion, halved and thinly sliced; 4 garlic cloves, chopped; 25 g/1 oz fresh root ginger, grated; 30 ml/2 tbsp vegetable oil; 800 g/1¾ lb/7 cups plain/all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting; 7 ml/1 ½ tsp easy bake/rapid-rise dried yeast; boiled rice, to serve; 800 g/1¾ lb/7 cups plain/all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting; 5 ml/1 tsp salt; 450 ml/¾ pint/scant 2 cups warm water; 7 ml/1 ½ tsp easy bake/rapid-rise dried yeast; 5 ml/1 tsp sugar; 1 small chicken, about 900g/2lb; 2.5 ml/½ tsp salt; 2 dried lotus leaves; 15 ml/1 tbsp Shaoxing wine or dry sherry; 15 ml/1 tbsp Shaoxing wine or dry sherry

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

China

By Terry Tan

Published 2020

About

The story behind this curiously named dish is about a vagrant who stole a chicken. Being fearful of being discovered, he decided to wrap it in lotus leaves and wet mud before flinging the parcel into a fire he had made to warm himself. In reality, this method of cooking has been around for centuries, especially in Micronesia, and it still exists in New Zealand and other Pacific islands. The recipe no longer calls for mud, but uses a dough instead. The dough is edible but is not meant to be

Ingredients

Asia
China
Main course

Ingredients

Method