Chicken is so important a dish to a Chinese table that since ancient times there was the old saying had it that “Chicken makes for a real dinner.” Actually, the hard-working and intelligent Chinese people have created over one hundred ways to cook chicken, among which, jiaohua chicken a very unique and famed dish.

Chicken is so important a dish to a Chinese table that since ancient times there was the old saying had it that “Chicken makes for a real dinner.” Actually, the hard-working and intelligent Chinese people have created over one hundred ways to cook chicken, among which, jiaohua chicken a very unique and famed dish.

In certain southern Chinese dialects people refer to beggars as “jiaohuazi”. Now, this may seem strange considering that it is the exact same name of what we will introduce here, but legend has it that jiaohua chicken, in fact, was invented by a beggar. You see, supposedly a homeless man, by chance, got hold of a chicken, but without kitchenware or seasonings – or even hot water for that matter – he had no way of getting rid of its feathers. Not knowing what to do, he improvised by wrapping the chicken in mud and placing it in between some burning logs. Once the mud had hardened, he smashed it open and found that the feathers had disappeared. All that remained was the chicken, and luckily for him, it tasted amazing.

Today, this succulent recipe has been perfected by China’s chefs. Requirements include sanhuangji (literally, three-yellow chicken): yellow-feathered, yellow-skinned, and yellow-beaked chicken. Various seasonings are stuffed into the chicken’s belly, before it is wrapped inside a lotus leaf and covered in the same kind of mud or a layer of aluminum foil that seals top-shelf wine. Usually the mud clump is brought to the table and opened in front of diners. The combination of the fragmentation of mud, and the smell of good wine and roasted chicken is a surefire way to get your guests’ appetites going.

Ingredients: young hen, pork, shrimp, ham dices, pork oil, shiitake dices, fresh lotus leaf, wine mud (the mud that seals a wine jar to prevent evaporation).

In certain southern Chinese dialects people refer to beggars as “jiaohuazi”. Now, this may seem strange considering that it is the exact same name of what we will introduce here, but legend has it that jiaohua chicken, in fact, was invented by a beggar. You see, supposedly a homeless man, by chance, got hold of a chicken, but without kitchenware or seasonings – or even hot water for that matter – he had no way of getting rid of its feathers. Not knowing what to do, he improvised by wrapping the chicken in mud and placing it in between some burning logs. Once the mud had hardened, he smashed it open and found that the feathers had disappeared. All that remained was the chicken, and luckily for him, it tasted amazing.

Today, this succulent recipe has been perfected by China’s chefs. Requirements include sanhuangji (literally, three-yellow chicken): yellow-feathered, yellow-skinned, and yellow-beaked chicken. Various seasonings are stuffed into the chicken’s belly, before it is wrapped inside a lotus leaf and covered in the same kind of mud or a layer of aluminum foil that seals top-shelf wine. Usually the mud clump is brought to the table and opened in front of diners. The combination of the fragmentation of mud, and the smell of good wine and roasted chicken is a surefire way to get your guests’ appetites going.

Ingredients: young hen, pork, shrimp, ham dices, pork oil, shiitake dices, fresh lotus leaf, wine mud (the mud that seals a wine jar to prevent evaporation).