ExplainerCurious history and myths of Chinese beggar’s chicken that captivates culinary interest worldwide

Chinese food is a cuisine famous worldwide, and one dish that has received international acclaim is jiao hua ji, or “beggar’s chicken”.

The traditional dish from southeastern China involves marinating the chicken in sauce, wrapping it in lotus leaves and clay, and slow-cooking it over a fire.

Preparing a single portion of beggar’s chicken can take up to six hours, as the extended cooking time allows the chicken to fully absorb the flavours of the seasonings and the delicate fragrance of the lotus leaves.

The dish is not only renowned in China but has also captivated culinary interest across the world.

On the South Korean variety show, New Journey to the West, participants visited a restaurant in Chengdu in southwestern China’s Sichuan province, where the cooks served them beggar’s chicken.

Initially, the visitors were shocked and thought they were supposed to eat mud when presented with the clay-covered dish, exclaiming: “This is just dirt!”