汽锅鸡汽鍋雞
qì guō jī hei3 wo1 gai1
Chicken steamed in a clay pot with a chimney through its middle: steam rises, condenses, and drips back as the purest soup imaginable — not a drop of water is ever added.
The story behind it
The steam-pot (汽锅) of red Jianshui clay is a Yunnan invention credited to the chef Yang Li in the Qianlong era — its central funnel turns hours of steaming into a broth distilled entirely from the bird itself. Yunnan’s pharmacopoeia loves to join in: sliced 三七 (notoginseng) or matsutake mushrooms often steam with the chicken, making it the gentle, medicinal opposite of the province’s wilder flavours.
Ingredients
- 1 free-range chicken (about 1.2 kg), chopped through the bone
- Thick slices of ginger + 3 spring onions
- 1 tsp salt and a few white peppercorns
- Optional: matsutake or a few slices of notoginseng (三七)
- A steam-pot (汽锅) or a deep bowl set in a steamer
Steps
- Blanch the chicken pieces; arrange in the steam-pot with ginger and onion.
- Add no water — the chimney does the work.
- Set the pot over a pan of boiling water, seal the join with a damp cloth.
- Steam 3 hours; salt at the end and serve the clear, concentrated soup first.