Liu Mei Roast Chicken

Liu Mei Roast Chicken

　　The birthplace of the handcrafted Liu Mei Roast Chicken technique—Laoting County in Hebei Province, located southeast of Tangshan City, is also the birthplace of Laoting Drum. The handcrafted technique of Liu Mei Roast Chicken was pioneered by the founder, Mr. Liu Jun, who, building upon his family’s more than 200-year-old tradition of braised meat, dedicated himself to research, creating the precedent for shaping roast chicken in China, and became famous for it.

　　According to the Laoting County Annals: In 1897, Liu Jun, who moved from Liguo Village, a small seaside village in Laoting County, to Nanguan in the county town, and his grandfather Liu Chong hung up the signboard “Liu’s Roast Chicken Shop” and began shop-based operations, enjoying brisk business... In 1905, Liu Tan, who at the time served as a second-rank imperial bodyguard with sword duties beside Emperor Guangxu, returned home to visit relatives. After tasting Liu’s roast chicken, he found its color, aroma, and taste excellent, but felt that presenting the whole chicken was not very aesthetically pleasing. He then changed the shape by threading one wing of the plucked chicken through the knife incision at the neck from the inside out through the beak, so that the chicken head and neck adhered tightly to the side of the back along the wing, while the other wing naturally drooped. The chicken feet were then curled and tucked into the abdominal cavity. After shaping, the chicken was placed in a pot of ancestral broth and cooked and smoked with 28 kinds of precious Chinese medicinal herbs. Once cooked, the roast chicken looked as if a bare chicken had laid down to sleep, with both form and spirit perfectly captured. In the autumn of 1906, Liu Tan, who had by then become an imperial bodyguard serving Empress Dowager Cixi in the Summer Palace, returned home again to visit relatives and brought dozens of chickens back to Beijing to present to Cixi and various princes. Upon seeing and tasting the Liu’s roast chicken presented by Liu Tan, Empress Dowager Cixi was immensely pleased and bestowed the name “Liu Mei Roast Chicken.”

　　As a renowned dish in northern China, Liu Mei Roast Chicken is sold in Beijing, Tianjin, Tangshan, Qinhuangdao, and the three northeastern provinces (it is now sold in 18 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions across the country). Its unique combination of appealing color, fragrance, taste, and shape—especially its pioneering role in shaping roast chicken (the shape has been granted a national patent)—completely resolved the past issue of roast chickens having awkwardly splayed claws and wings with drooping necks, thus advancing the development of whole-chicken shaping techniques in China’s roast chicken industry.

　　As a delicious food item, Liu Mei Roast Chicken aids digestion, refreshes the mind, and strengthens the body. As a subject in food culture, it enriches the profound and extensive connotations of culinary heritage. Having endured for a century and remaining ever popular, it is truly remarkable. After the reform and opening-up, with the continuous growth of Liu Mei Industry, it also promoted the adjustment of the rural agricultural industrial structure. As a provincial-level key leading enterprise in agricultural industrialization, it drives over 2,000 farms (households) each year, enabling them to gain an economic benefit of 8 million yuan, fostering the development of a harmonious countryside, enriching consumers' food choices, and becoming a highly favored delicacy on diners’ tables.