Paper-Wrapped Chicken

Name: Paper-Wrapped Chicken (紙包雞)
Yield: Serves 6–9 as part of a multicourse meal, 18 as a single hors d’oeuvre.
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 2–3 tablespoons Chinese or Japanese sesame oil; 6–8 cups corn or peanut oil, for deep-frying; 1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or quality, dry sherry; 18 strips flavorful boiled or smoked ham, 1½ inches long, ⅛ inch thick, and ¼ inch wide (equal to about 2 ounces uncut ham); 6 medium Chinese dried black mushrooms; ½ cup green peas, blanched until tender-crisp if fresh, thoroughly defrosted if frozen; 1 Chinese pork sausage; 18 perfect coriander leaves; ¼ teaspoon freshly ground white pepper; 1 teaspoon sugar; ½ teaspoon coarse kosher salt; 1 tablespoon thin (regular) soy sauce; 1 pound skinned and boned fresh chicken breast, carefully trimmed of membranes, cartilage, and fat (weight after trimming; equal to about 2 pounds with skin on and bone in; for easy, 5-minute boning)

紙包雞

Preparation info

Serves
6–9
as part of a multicourse meal .

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking

By Barbara Tropp

Published 1982

About

I first saw these mysterious parcels of chicken at a dinner given by some arty young Chinese friends. Everyone reached right in with their chopsticks to deftly unwrap the paper and exclaim over the tender, aromatic treat inside. Everyone, that is, except me! I was then a vegetarian, and while I was stupid not to abandon my principles on the spot and grab some of that chicken, the smell and look of it were enough to urge me to become a born-again carnivore.

Clea

Ingredients

Asia
China
Taipei
Starter
Dinner

Ingredients

Method