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Beggar's Chicken

Ingredients

  • 3 1/2 pound chicken, washed and patted dry
  • 2 tbl dark soy sauce
  • 1 tbl sesame oil
  • 1 tbl dry sherry or chinese rice wine
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder
  • 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed

Instructions

Parchment paper 1 paper lunch bag 12 lb clay from a local potter (this is the original but you can substitute with aluminum foil and stick in oven) Mix all of the marinade ingredients together and rub the bird with this mixture, inside and out. Tie the legs together and place the bird on a roasting rack in a pan. Roast in a 450 F oven, breast side up, on a large piece of parchment paper and wrap up. Slip the wrapped bird into the paper lunch sack and fold up the ends of the bag. Optional but interesting: Roll out the clay on a dish towel on a breadboard to about 3/8 in thick, 16 in wide, and 21 in long. Place the bagged chicken in the middle of the clay and bring the sides of the clay slab up to meet across the top, shaping close to the bird. Press the ends down and secure by pinching the clay. Do this carefully so that you have a kind of clay envelope with about a 1-inch edge of clay on the top and the ends. Trim off the excess. Pinch together decoratively if you like. Place the clay-covered chicken in a large baking pan and bake at 350 F for about 2 1/2 hrs. Transfer the bird to a large shallow tray or basket and invite your guests to watch the cracking of the clay. Use a wooden mallet. The clay will crack readily and you can lift off the pieces. Return the chicken to the kitchen and remove all the clay. Pull off the paper bag and hack (with a cleaver cutting the meat into large bite-size pieces) the chicken into serving pieces. If you use foil very the temp for the size of the bird.

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