Called chicken, cola chicken, earth kiln chicken, bubble chicken...
Do you know the wēi chicken?
According to legend, in the north of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, there was a beggar, who accidentally got a chicken, but there was no cooking utensil, and in desperation, he slaughtered the chicken to remove the internal organs, coated the mud with hair, took the dead branches and leaves into a fire, put the chicken into the fire and simmered, waited for the mud to dry and mature, knocked off the mud shell, the chicken feathers fell off with the shell, the aroma splashed around, the beggar was very happy, holding the chicken and swallowing it, at this time, just when the university scholar Qian Muzhai passed nearby, smelled the fragrance, he bought a bite from the beggar, tasted it to feel the unique taste, and went home and ordered his domestic helper to add a little seasoning and concoct it After that, this cooking method spread in the folk, and everyone called this cooked chicken "Called Chicken" (also known as "Beggar Chicken").
This is the story of the predecessor of the Tangjiawan mud simmered chicken.
After experiencing the historical changes of kitchen utensils and seasonings, and colliding with the practice of simmering sweet potatoes, after coming to Zhuhai, there is a steamed chicken that meets the taste of Zhuhai people.
The production of simmered chicken is not complicated, but it is not simple, not complicated because its production only requires a bunch of soil, a chicken, a handful of common condiments, and then the garlic, chives and other accessories are filled into the chicken belly, after the fire is roasted, knocked open the hard soil, you can taste such human delicacies. It is not simple because of the details of its heat, seasoning, and spices, which is really a technical work.
Since the production of the mud simmered chicken mainly relies on the sealing of the outer layer of mud, locking all the delicacies in it, the mud simmered chicken does not smell any taste when it is first served, and it seems ordinary. When the diner tore it open a small opening, the aroma was overflowing, and it was not happy.
By this time, most diners have been impatient, tearing off the chicken legs in the heat, the chicken with soup, the delicate and delicious chicken skin constantly stimulates the taste buds, and it is not in the mouth without thinking, which is addictive.
Chicken is smooth and tender, even the chicken breast of the meat of such a chai, in the teacher's precise control of the heat also becomes the slightest taste, saltiness is moderate, even if you do not eat rice will not feel salty, it seems that the meat in each corner is carefully sprinkled with beautiful seasoning, accompanied by diners every time they chew into the depths of the taste buds, during the hand-torn meat, there will be a little soup between the chicken and the chicken skin. According to the teacher who makes the simmered chicken, these soups are not deliberately transferred by the chef, but are formed when the heat originally locked in the chicken is suddenly released, so that this original inadvertent coincidence has become the finishing touch of this dish.
After tasting, Xiaobian had the honor to interview a teacher who specializes in mud simmered chicken, the sunset, the warm sun and the mottled leaves reflect on his face, although he is more than sixty years old, but the voice is hard, there is no flower armor of the year, there is still light in his eyes, he sits in a rocking chair, gently looks at the dogs around him, and tells his story: "I have been making mud simmered chicken for more than 10 years, the craft was learned from my father, and my father was learned from my grandfather, in fact, there is no secret recipe. My grandfather made it in almost every house in his day, because the ingredients were simple and tasted good. This chicken, can not pick too big, otherwise the heat is difficult to grasp, 3 to 4 pounds is the best. ”
In the cheerful laughter of the teacher, the smell of the simmered chicken wafts for thousands of miles, through the long river of time, lingering around you, such a moving delicacy is hidden in the wrinkles of the teacher, but also hidden in the memory of a generation in Zhuhai.