Beggar’s Chicken

This justly famous preparation from Peking derives its name from a folk tale about a beggar, without home, money, or food, who stole a chicken from a farm and raced off with it. To cook it, he covered it with mud, made a fire in a hole in the ground, and baked his chicken, peeling the feathers off before he ate. Some people feel that the chicken is too rich for such a story and call it Foo Guai Gai, or Rich and Noble Chicken, a name which I prefer.