Beggar's Chicken

I have heard about the Beggar's chicken but today is the first time for me to try it out... It sure costs much at a hefty $150 and need to request for it 2 days in advance due to the preparation involved. The chicken is carefully marinated with many different spices, then steamed till soft and stuffed with herbs and spices and then wrapped with lotus leaves and then coated with clay and baked slowly over high and medium heat over prolonged hours to ensure that the taste will sip into the chicken. It was definitely a very interesting dish. Heehee! Well, the taste is good too. Due to the prolong cooking, the meat of the chicken is very tender and soft. Even the bones can be easily broken with one bite. The taste is not too strong, just nice and the chicken tastes really sweet and fresh too.

Well with regards to the origin of this dish, there are quite a few versions but all associated with beggar. The dish originated from Hangzhou during the Ching dynasty - a time of poverty caused in part by high taxes. A old beggar stole a chicken and secretly wrapped it in lotus leaves and coated it with mud and baking it above an open fire; to prevent others from discovering it. When he broke the mud to taste the chicken, he discovered the chicken could give such unqiue and wonderful taste. Another version was because the people in hangzhou were so poor that they couldn't afford any cooking utensils and so they used mud to wrap their food and baked it.

In clockwise starting Top left corner : How the beggar's chicken is being opened up

The chicken was too much for the 5 of us and so I brought back some for family. MInnie Mouse made a "cold" joke of the chicken...

Minnie Mouse : Do you know why this dish is called the Beggar's chicken?

Me : I think it got something to do withh some Beggar cooking the chicken.

Minnie Mouse : No lah. Because it's so expensive so after eating it, you will become a beggar lor. HoHoHo!

Me : *shivering* (The joke sure is cold.)

Well, of course other than the Beggar's chicken, we had other nice yummy food..... I especially like the cold flower crab and the mee sau. Their tastes were rather unique and tasty.

Starters : Fish cake with anchovies


Cold Flower Crab


Vegetable


Steamed fish


Mee Sau with crayfish


Desserts : Or Nee (yam paste with gingko nuts) & Mango Sago with Almond jelly


Asia Grand Restaurant
Asia Hotel Singapore
37 Scotts Road
Tel : 6887-0010