3 1/2 lb Frying chicken; up to 4 lb
8 lg Dried bamboo leaves; soaked in warm water until soft **
1 tb Soy sauce
1 tb Shaoxing wine or dry sherry **
3/4 c Glutinous rice; soaked in cold water for 1 hour
2 oz Chinese sausage; cut into 1/4" diagonal slices **
1/4 c Dried lotus seed; blanched or whole blanched almonds **
2 tb Dried shrimp; soaked and drained **
4 Dried black mushroom caps; soaked, drained, diced **
2 tb Clouds ears; soaked, drained **
1/4 c Water chestnuts; diced
1/2 c Green onions; sliced
2 tb Hoisin sauce
Rinse and dry chicken and set it on a large cutting board. With a
cleaver, cut off wings. Cut off neck, if present. Remove fat from
cavity and neck areas.
Place chicken breast side down on board. With a sharp boning or
paring knife, cut through skin along backbone. Peel skin back a
little on one side, cutting away meat from bones. When hip and
shoulder joints are exposed, twist or cut them away from carcass,
being careful not to tear skin. Leave the leg alone for now and
concentrate on cutting the breast free from breastbone. Be especially
careful not to puncture skin lying across breastbone. Repeat on other
side, then lift carcass away from skin, carefully cutting skin free
from ridge of breastbone.
Remove leg bones by first, cutting skin length of thigh and then
cutting and scraping meat away from bone. Repeat process for
drumstick. Follow along for other side thigh and drumstick. You
should now have left a whole skin and most of the meat. Trim any
large pieces of meat remaining on carcass and add to skin.
Drain bamboo leaves and cut off thick stems. Cut two 4' lengths of
kitchen twine, and lay them crosswise across bottom of a shallow
steaming bowl. Lay two leaves crosswise over string in bowl. Arrange
remaining leaves at intermediate angles to cover bottom of bowl
completely. Combine soy sauce and wine; rub mixture over both sides
of chicken. Place chicken skin side down in bowl on top of leaves.
Rearrange any loose pieces of meat on skin to form a roughly equal
layer. Drain rice and combine with sausage, lotus seed, shrimp,
mushrooms, cloud ears, water chestnuts, green onions, and hoisin
sauce. Spread mixture over middle of chicken, then wrap skin around
stuffing, overlapping slightly. Fold leaves tightly around chicken
and secure with strings. Tie bundle in several directions to maintain
shape. (This is where it helps to have an extra set of hands.)
Steam in bowl, skin side up (the side with the wider parts of leaves
showing) for 2 hours.
To Serve:
Remove strings and set package in serving dish, skin side up. Cut
skin open with four crossing cuts, cutting down through skin into
stuffing, and fold back leaves like an 8-pedaled flower. Discard
loose pieces of leaves. Spoon a little of stock from steaming bowl
onto stuffing before serving.
Source: Chinese Cooking at the Academy pg. 82
Notes:
This recipe is made with a whole chicken, deboned. Boning the chicken
is not difficult, but it takes time, especially the first time. Don't
worry if you cut or tear the skin in a few places; the leaf wrapping
will hold it together. The other tricky step is tying up the bundle
of chicken, stuffing, and leaves; another pair of hands is helpful.
Use a plate to turn the package while tying the strings. Bamboo
leaves are available in Asian markets.
