Chicken Pot

[Meng Lelan]

This for a Russian friend here. She said a Chinese neighbor stopped by her daughter's house after she had a baby to deliver hot steaming chicken in a clay pot. She asked me for a photo of the pot, what the pot is called in Chinese, how can she make chicken like that? I don't know anything about cooking, so I wonder if anyone here can help me figure out what she was talking about.

[jbradfor]

Can you describe the clay pot?

Off hand, I can think of two clay pots. One is called a 煲, and is quite common (in Cantonese cooking at least, not sure about others). The other is there is a Chinese dish I think usually translated "beggar's chicken" that is a whole(?) chicken encased in mud/clay, and then baked. In the traditional style, I believe you crack open the casing to eat it.

[889]

Delicious as it is, Beggar's Chicken (叫化鸡 jiào huā jī) is a complex dish, not something your neighbour would likely whip up in the kitchen.

[Meng Lelan]

I don't think it was Beggars Chicken. Most likely the neighbor used a special pot to roast or steam the chicken. My Russian friend really struggled to describe the pot and I don't really know any Russian. I guess she wants to buy a similar pot in Houston's Chinatown and make the same kind of chicken.

[jbradfor]

You don't know Meng Lelan neighbor! :-)

Off-topic, but Wikipedia claims "叫化鸡" is the Shanghai-ese term for it. The Beijing term is 富贵鸡, and it is a Beijing dish. But I don't understand why it's called "begger's", since "富" means rich.

[889]

More off-topic.

中国烹饪百科全书 says:

[Meng Lelan]

Ah, well, it's all a chicken in every pot by any name and any language. I'll just tell her to get some pot and put the chicken in there, see what happens.

[xiaocai]

Could it be 汽锅鸡? And I think it would be helpful if you can let us know that which province your friend's chinese neighbour is from.

[abcdefg]

It was probably 汽锅鸡 usually translated as Steam- Pot Chicken. It's a popular dish in Yunnan.

Here's a link with a picture and a description of how it's made: http://www.yfao.gov.cn/Enshow2.aspx?id=157

Baidu 汽锅鸡 for more.

Edit: Oops! I see Xiaocai beat me to it. Great minds think alike.

[abcdefg]

I guess she wants to buy a similar pot in Houston's Chinatown and make the same kind of chicken.

Should not be difficult.

[xiaocai]

Great minds think alike.

Indeed.

My hometown is very close to Yunnan, so there are literally hundreds of Yunnan restaurants around, and almost all of them serve this dish.

[Meng Lelan]

I think that might be it. Of course my neighbor being a Russian, she does not know where in China that Chinese neighbor is originating from. To her, China is China. And I don't think I want to study Russian in order to discuss chickens and Yunnan province.

谢谢 for your pictures, recipes, etc helped me a lot.

[xiaocai]

So you yourself are not interested? That is a bit of a shame. It is quite a nice dish and not difficult to make as well.

[Lu]

Could your Russian neighbour not ask your Chinese neighbour? Surely the Chinese nb will be pleased that the Russian nb liked the chicken so much she wants to learn how to make it, and the Chinese nb would know what the pot is called.

[Meng Lelan]

xiaocai, no, I'm not interested in cooking, I'm not a foodie, I don't care about food at all, all I want to do is teaching, wushu-ing, kungfu-ing, and blogging, nothing else.

Lu, therein lies the problem. Russian friend can't speak Chinese, Chinese neighbor can't speak Russian, their English is minimal. And I don't know anything, that's the bigger problem.

[abcdefg]

And I don't know anything, that's the bigger problem.

That's not quite true. Now you know more than you ever wanted to about 汽锅鸡。

[Meng Lelan]

I meant food and Russian in general.