Jianshui-styled Steamed Chicken

Steam pot chicken is one of Yunnan's most popular dishes, and uniquely Yunnan in character. The Yunnan style of steam pot chicken produces a meat that is tender and juicy, bathed in a delicious broth that is rich in nutrition. The key to producing such a mouth-watering result is a process that uses a specially designed clay vessel known as a steam pot.

Steampot Chicken became popular in southern Yunnan during the reign of Emperor Qian Long of the Qing Dynasty. Jianshui County was already by that time a center of fine pottery products. A craftsman named Yang Li invented a special clay pot with that had a pipe built into it that extended from an opening in the bottom of the pot up through the middle, and opened on top. It funneled the steam through the opening in the bottom up to the top, where it was captured by the top of the pot.

In 1927 the steam pot chicken spread from southern Yunnan to Kunming, where a restaurant in Fuzhao Street became famous for serving the dish.

In the preparation of steam pot chicken, the meat is cut into small pieces and placed with ginger, salt, green onion and amomum tsaoko into the steam pot. The steam pot is placed over a stockpot of water, which boils and gives off steam. The rising steam funnels into the opening and cooks the chicken. The cooking process takes three to four hours.

When the steam cools and condenses, the liquid drops back into the stockpot and becomes the broth, retaining elements of flavor and nutrition that may have been cooked out during the steaming process.

At that stage, nutrifying and medicinal herbs, such as sanqi (pseudo-ginseng), chongcao (caterpillar fungus) and tianma (gastrodiaelata), are added to the mix, making the dish even more healthful and vivifying.

The result is scrumptiously delicious, comfortingly warm dinner, nourishing to body and spirit, and uniquely Yunnan in character.