6/19/2012

Emperor Chicken: a.k.a. Beggar's Chicken

This ancient dish, which originated in China, is prepared by wrapping chicken in clumps of mud or soft dough made from wheat flour and then cooking it over fire. It was a poor man's (or beggar's) food.

But a story is told that an emperor who happened to taste it took a fancy to this poor man's food and had it cooked in the palace, eventually becoming his favorite dish. With the addition of some herbal and fancy concoction fit for an emperor, the dish was baked in an oven for hours, and became the Emperor Chicken. 

I speak not as a big cook but as a non-cook with a big appetite, which we call in my family the Chong palate.  

True to this tag, JR came home from Singapore with a luggage half-filled with packed marinades of all kinds, one of which is for Emperor Chicken.

So to the kitchen he went, and with the enthusiastic help of Ate Vi, our resident empress and chef, he whipped up (by adding some herbs freshly picked from our garden) one of the most delicious chicken recipes a food beggar like me has ever tasted.

Tada!

Through all generations, the grace of palate encompasses both beggars and emperors.

5 comments:

Ryan Rotor said...

Mouthwatering! Ms. G! Penge recipe! =D

Anonymous said...

When you find time, or when Ms. Yay returns home from the US, whichever comes first, let's have party for three and have Emperor Chicken! Ms. G

Yay Padua-Olmedo said...

Grace, ako, patikim, sa next date natin.

Grace D. Chong said...

Yep! What a party it will be!

The Tiger Scribe said...

I wish to share that I am one of the few people in the planet who has the extreme fear of chickens and fowls, called "Alektorophobia". The sight of chicken, real or in pictures... eeeer... proximity to fowls? god save me! touch a chicken? sure, but someone has to sign a waiver that he agrees to bring me to the morgue (forgive me for being morbid but I just needed to be s realistic as possible) right after, no more autopsies.

But then again, I eat chicken. Roasted, grilled, fried. Indulging in something that scares me to death (in all levels!!!) is an irony of life indeed.