Steamed Chicken in Original Pot

Steamed Chicken in Original Pot

　　Steamed Chicken in Original Pot is a unique and renowned dish from southern Yunnan. The earliest place in Kunming to serve it was Yunshengyuan Restaurant, where Master Zhuang Guoqing and Xue Guangzu, the restaurant’s acclaimed chefs, had special expertise in making it. The ingredients needed for Steamed Chicken in Original Pot include one plump hen (about 2000 grams), 2 grams of monosodium glutamate (MSG), 15 grams of fine salt, 2 grams of ground pepper, 10 grams each of scallions and ginger, and 2 grams of cooking wine. The soup of the steamed chicken is silvery white, deliciously flavorful, rich and aromatic, and highly nutritious. The preparation process involves slaughtering the chicken, plucking the feathers, removing the internal organs, cleaning it, then chopping the meat into 3 cm cubes, soaking them thoroughly in clean water, and placing them in a pot. Pour in clean water, bring it to a boil over heat, skim off any foam, blanch the chicken until cooked through, then remove and rinse it with clean water. Place the chicken pieces into a specially made earthenware pot, adding scallions, ginger, fine salt, MSG, and ground pepper. Next, strain the broth used to blanch the chicken through a sieve into the earthenware pot (enough to just cover the chicken pieces), then place the pot in a steamer and steam for three hours. This allows the steam to permeate the pot until the soup is rich and the chicken is tender and ready to eat.