The chicken is exceptionally tender, with a light and refreshing flavor and a rich lotus leaf aroma, while the outer dough crust is wonderfully crispy and crunchy.
In the past, beggar's chicken was made by wrapping the chicken in yellow clay and roasting it, but nowadays you can't exactly play with mud at home—and if a three-year-old happens to come along and pee in it, you'd end up with "beggar's kid chicken"! So instead, I wrap the chicken in a sheet of leavened dough for roasting. First, the seal is excellent, locking in all the aromas without any leakage. Second, the baked dough itself is quite tasty—crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, a bit like a Xinjiang-style naan bread, so you get both the main dish and a side of bread all in one.
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
Half a small rooster (about 350 g / 12 oz)
Fresh young rooster is best.
Additional Ingredients
1 piece of proofed dough
1 dried lotus leaf
Dried lotus leaves should be used for better flavor.
Marinade
20 g (about 1 1/2 tablespoons) Shaoxing wine
20 g (about 1 1/3 tablespoons) oyster sauce
20 g light soy sauce
1 g dark soy sauce
8 g (about 1/4 oz) salt
5 g (about 1 teaspoon) sugar
2 g white pepper powder
Dried fermented black beans, scallions and ginger, each to taste
Instructions
Instructions
Marinate the chicken: Rub the chicken inside and out with a mixture of salt, soy sauce, and Shaoxing wine, then let it sit for at least 2 hours to absorb the flavors.
Step 1: In a small bowl, combine all the marinade seasonings and mix into a sauce (Image 2). Rub the sauce evenly all over the chicken and marinate for at least 3 hours, or overnight if time allows (Image 3).
*Marinate the chicken for as long as possible, and season it a bit more heavily than usual, because during roasting the chicken is sealed very tightly, so the moisture won't escape as steam, but it will flow out as the temperature rises, washing away some of the seasonings and making the flavor milder.
Wrap the chicken tightly in the lotus leaf, then seal it with a layer of clay or a thick paste made from flour and water to lock in all the flavors and moisture during baking.
Step 2: Blanch the dried lotus leaves in boiling water until softened (Image 4), then place the marinated chicken on the lotus leaf (Image 5), and fold it up to wrap the chicken securely (Image 6).
*Dried lotus leaves are more aromatic than fresh ones. Generally speaking, dried ingredients like shiitake mushrooms and dried bamboo shoots have a more concentrated fragrance.
Step 3: Roll the proofed dough into a large sheet and wrap the lotus leaf chicken in it again, then set aside (see images 7 and 8).
*Be sure to wrap the entire lotus leaf chicken completely with dough, leaving no gaps, so don't roll the dough too thin or it will tear easily, but not too thick either, or it will take a very long time to cook the chicken through.
Roast in the oven until golden brown and cooked through.
Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) with both top and bottom heating elements for about 10 minutes. Brush a layer of oil on a baking sheet, place the lotus leaf-wrapped chicken coated in dough onto the sheet, and roast for approximately 70 minutes (Figure 9).
*Each oven is different, so the roasting time should be adjusted based on your specific situation—this is just a reference. Keep in mind that it's better to roast a bit longer than too short, because the tight seal keeps the chicken tender and moist, so extra roasting won't dry it out. If you open it before it's fully cooked and then put it back to roast, the chicken will become tough.
*During the roasting process, you can brush a layer of oil on the surface of the dough crust to make it even crispier. If the crust seems to be burning before it's fully cooked, simply cover it with a sheet of aluminum foil, just like you would when baking bread.
*Home ovens are generally not very large, so it's usually best to roast just half a chicken. If you try to roast a whole chicken, not only will it be difficult to fit in the oven, but the cooking time will also be longer and the results won't be as good. If you plan to use a whole chicken, it's recommended to remove some of the bony parts with little meat, such as the backbone, to make roasting easier.
For a creative twist, you can add diced ham or mushrooms to the filling for extra flavor, or wrap the chicken in lotus leaves and seal it with clay before baking for a more traditional presentation.
Marinade