Since ancient times, China has had the saying that there is no chicken and no banquet, and there are countless famous dishes about chicken in various places, and Yunnan Jianshui steam pot chicken is unique in the country because of its ingenious production, utensils and ingredients, and it is unique in the gastronomic industry. The magic of the steam pot chicken is on the pot, which is called the steam pot and is made of purple pottery, which is a local specialty of Jianshui. From the appearance of an ordinary stove, open the lid, you can see a cone in the center of the pot, the top of the cone open a small circle. People describe Jianshui pottery as "bright as water, bright as a mirror", "body like iron stone, sound like chimes". In the 1960s, Premier Zhou visited abroad and carried Jianshui purple pottery steam pots and vases as gifts to foreign friends.
When cooking, the clay pot is not placed directly on the source of the fire, but is placed in the steamer. The steamer is heated and conducted to the clay pot, and the chicken inside is steamed. When steaming, the round holes in the steam pot will bring up the water vapor in the lower layer and evenly spread it inside the steam pot. The soup of the finished dish is made of steam condensation, without adding a drop of water, so it is pure and clear, maintaining the original taste of the dish. Chicken and chicken soup cooked in a purple clay steam pot are crispy and mellow, and the taste of the soup is more delicious than that of ordinary casseroles.
Yunnan is rich in precious medicinal materials, and people have developed some medicinal food steam pot chicken using these Chinese medicinal materials, making chicken soup more nutritious and nourishing.
Sanqi steam pot chicken: with spleen and kidney, qi and blood, hemostasis and stasis and other effects, sanqi alias tianqi powder, gold does not change. Warm, sweet and slightly bitter, into the liver, stomach, large intestine meridians. There are called northern ginseng, south three seven. Ginseng tonic qi first, three seven blood tonic first. Panax notoginseng can strengthen and improve coronary microcirculation, dilate blood vessels, and reduce blood lipids and cholesterol.
Cordyceps steam pot chicken: has the effect of tonifying kidneys and strengthening the lungs, Cordyceps sinensis grows mostly in alpine meadows above 4000 meters above sea level. As the name suggests, it has two forms, "worm" in winter and "grass" in summer. It can treat kidney and yang deficiency, sperm deficiency, hemostasis and phlegm, cough and asthma.
Tianma steam pot chicken: it has the effect of relieving wind and stopping spasms, calming liver and yang, dispelling wind and communication, and calming the spirit and replenishing weakness. It is used for children with convulsions, headache and dizziness, hand and foot failure, limb numbness, rheumatism and pain, insomnia and forgetfulness, and physical weakness. The modern pharmacological research table is extracted from gastrodia, which has the effect of sedative hypnosis and enhancing the body's immunity.
Dendrobium steam pot chicken: it has the effect of raising yin and clearing heat, nourishing the stomach and fighting cancer. Dendrobium can improve immunity, activate blood stasis, and resist thrombosis. It can nourish yin and clear heat, improve insulin sensitivity index, promote gastrointestinal peristalsis and help digestion. The phenanthrene and bibenzyl substances extracted from dendrobium have anti-lung cancer, ovarian adenocarcinoma and premyeloid leukemia.
How to make steam pot chicken:
1. Wash and chop the chicken into small pieces, then add salt and white pepper and marinate for half an hour. The chicken nuggets are then evenly stacked around the steam pan and ginger slices are spread over the surface of the chicken. According to personal needs, put on the ingredients, such as various herbs, ham, matsutake mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, bamboo thorns, etc.
2. Prepare a soup pot, make sure that the diameter is similar to the steam pot, add water to the soup pot, during the steaming process, it is best to put enough water in the soup pot below at a time, pay attention to observe that the soup pot does not burn dry, do not add water on the way.
3. Soak a clean towel, surround the soup pot, then put the steam pot and seal the edges of the soup pot and the steam pot with a towel. Bring the water to a boil over high heat, turn to a low heat and simmer slowly for 2.5 hours until the chicken is ripe.