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Beggar's Chicken
Hot Yee Gai

Makes 6 Servings

This famous and most elaborate dish from Beijing derives its name from a folktale: A beggar, without a home or food, stole a chicken from a farm. To cook it, he covered it with mud, made a fire in a hole in the ground, and baked the chicken, peeling the feathers off as he ate. It is said that despite this tale, the people in Beijing think their special chicken is too rich a, preparation to carry the name beggar, and prefer to call it Fit Guai Gaik, or "Rich and Noble Chicken. " I think I prefer that too, though here it is given its classic name.

One 3- to 3 1/4- pound chicken
1/4 cup salt

For the marinade

3 tablespoons Mei Kuei Lu Chiew or gin
One 3- inch cinnamon stick, broken into 4 pieces
2 pieces eight-star anise
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Pinch freshly grown white pepper

For the stuffing

1 1/2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 1/2 cups diced onion
1/2 cup pork fat, cut into 1/8-inch dice
6 dried black mushrooms, washed, soaked to softness, stems discarded, and caps diced into 1/2-inch pieces
3/4 cup preserved mustard greens, washed 5 times to cleanse of sand and salt, leaves opened and rinsed, squeezed dry, and finely sliced
1 tablespoon Shao-Hsing wine or dry sherry
1 1/2 teaspoon teaspoons Sesame oil
1 teaspoon five-spice powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch freshly ground white pepper

For the dough

5 cups high-gluten flour
2 cups hot water
2 1/2 teaspoons peanut oil

Special equipment

1 yard cheesecloth or 2 large lotus leaves, soaked inwater for 20 minutes until soft, washed, and dried
2 feet heavy-duty foil

1.Clean the chicken thoroughly, remove fat and membranes, and wash under cold running water. Sprinkle 1/4 cup salt on the outside of the chicken, rub well, rinse, and dry. In a small bowl, stir together the marinade ingredients and rub the inside and outside with it. Set the chicken aside.

2.To prepare the stuffing, heat a wok over high heat for 30 seconds, add the peanut oil, and coat the wok with it using a spatula. When a wisp of white smoke appears, add the onion and cook until light brown, about 5 minutes. Lower the heat to medium, add the pork fat, and cook, stirring, until translucent. Add the mushrooms and mustard greens and mix well. Turn the heat back to high, add the wine, and mix all the ingredients together. Add the sesame oil, five-spice powder, salt, sugar, and pepper and mix. Remove from the heat, place in a bowl, and reserve.

3. To prepare the dough, place the flour in the center of the work surface and make a well in the center. Add the hot water slowly with one hand as you mix with the other. When the water is absorbed, knead for about 2 minutes to make a dough. Coat your hands with peanut oil and rub the dough with some pressure to coat it. Rub your hands onthe work surface as well. Flatten the dough until it is large enough to wrap the chicken completely.

4.Stuff the chicken by loosely putting the stuffing into the body cavity. Close the neck and tail openings with skewers.

5.Wrap the chicken completely in the cheesecloth or in overlapping lotus leaves. Place the wrapped chicken in the center of the flattened dough and wrap the chicken, scaling the edges by pressing closed with your fingers. Spread out the foil and place the chicken, breast side up, on it. Enfold the chicken, closing the foil.

6.Heat the oven to 350ºF for 15 minutes. Place the wrapped chicken in a roasting pan and bake for 1 hour. Lower the heat to 325ºF and bake for 3 hours more. Turn off the heat, remove the chicken from the oven, and remove the foil. Cut through the dough with kitchen shears and make a large opening. Scoop out pieces of chicken and stuffing with a serving spoon and serve together.

Note:The covering insulates the chicken. It will remain hot enough to serve if removed from the oven 1 to 2 hours before serving.

Poultry in China dates back to the Beginning of its recorded history Chickens have been domesticated there for at least 3,000 years. So it is it or surprising that chicken, which in China is steamed, braised, smoked, fried, roasted, boiled, and stir-fried, and minced and sliced for soups, dumplings, congees, noodles, and stuffings, should be regarded as symbol as well as food. In Chinese folklore, the chicken symbolizes the phoenix, the bird of rebirth that rises from ashes; and it is the symbol of the empress as well. Chicken is offered in temples and at ancestor altars, and it is a food that must be eaten on the second day of the Lunar New Tear, for its symbolism of rebirth. Small wonder that festive classic chicken dishes abound.

Cook and Sell Dumplings
Sin Mai

Makes 36 Dumplings

These dumplings, shaped like tiny kettles, bear the name "cook and sell, " to indicate that once they are made, they are never left unsold. Like other classics of the dim sum kitchen, they have their own particular dough, a wheat flour-based dough. The dough requires effort and time, but for those who love to work with doughs, it is time well spent. However, those who do not care to knead or shape may use any of a number of ready-made wheat-flour wrappers available in Chinese and Asian markets.

Since wrappers are used for many dumplings in the dim sum kitchen, I offer the following: Ready-made dough squares can be bought in 1-pound packages of varying thicknesses, 90 to 100 skins to the pack. I prefer the thinner sort, and commercial makers can manufacture skins thinner than one can make at home.

Won ton skins come square, about 3 1/2 inches to a side. They are labeled either "skins" or "wrappers. " Water dumpling skins are round, from 3 1/4 to 3 1/2 inches in diameter. These may also be labeled "Hong Kong style. " Dumpling skins are usually round, about 3 1/2inches in diameter. You may even see a label reading suey gow, which is phonetic Cantonese for dumpling skins. What you need to know is that these are identical. They can be found in the refrigerated sections of markets, and all brands are about equal in quality. Any left over after using them in recipes may be frozen. They will keep, double-wrapped in plastic, then in foil, for 2 months. To use, defrost and bring to room temperature. Or use the wheat flour dough recipe here.

10 Chinese black mushrooms, soaked in hot water for 30 minutes, rinsed, dried, stems discarded, and caps cut into 1/4-inch dice
3/4 pound coarsely ground pork
1/2 pound shrimp, shelled, deveined, and diced
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon peanut butter
1 tablespoon peanut oil
11/2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons cornstarch
I teaspoon sesame oil
Pinch freshly ground white pepper

For the dough (or use 36 dumpling skins)

1 1/4 cups Pillsbury Best All-Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 extra-large eggs
2 tablespoons water
1/3 cup cornstarch, for dusting

1. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients except the dough ingredients or skins and mix until the consistency is smooth and even. Place in a shallow dish and refrigerate, uncovered, for 4 hours or, covered, overnight.

2. To make the dough, combine the flour and baking soda on a work surface. Make a well in the mixture, add the eggs, and work with your fingers until the eggs have been absorbed. Slowly drizzle in the water, mixing as you do, until thoroughly mixed. Knead the dough for 5 minutes or until it becomes elastic. Set aside, covered with a damp cloth, for 4 hours.

3. When the dough is ready, dust the work surface with cornstarch. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin until you have a sheet 1/4 inch thick. Pick up the sheet, dust the surface again with cornstarch, and roll again until the sheet is 1/8 inch thick. Roll the dough around a dowel or long broom handle to prevent tearing. Dust the surface again. Roll the dough again, as thinly as possible, then pick up by rolling again around a dowel. Dust the surface yet again, carefully roll out the sheet, and roll again until the sheet is about 21 inches square. With a dough scraper and a ruler, cut 3 1/2-inch squares from the sheet. As you cut and stack them, sprinkle each with cornstarch to prevent sticking. (The dough is more elastic if made the night before and stored, covered with plastic, in the refrigerator.)

4. To make the dumplings, in the middle of each skin place 4 teaspoons filling. Hold the filling in place with your fingers and, holding the dumpling in the other hand, gradually turn the dumpling, flattening the filling on top. This will result in a basket shape. Pack down the filling, and smooth the top of the dumpling. This will ensure that the dumpling and filling will remain intact during steaming. Tap the dumpling bottom lightly on the work surface to flatten it so it will stand in the steamer. Place the dumplings in a steamer, cover, and steam for 7 minutes. Turn off the heat and serve.

Note: Siu mai may be frozen after steaming. Wrapped in plastic wrap, then in foil, they will keep for 2 months. To reheat, defrost, bring to room temperature, and steam for 3 to 5 minutes.