Jiang's Steamed Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 whole young chicken (童子雞)
• 4 qian (錢) salt
• 1 spoon soy sauce (醬油)
• 0.5 tea cup aged wine (老酒)
• 3 large slices ginger (薑)

Instructions

1. Place the young chicken whole in a clay pot (砂鍋). Add the salt, soy sauce, aged wine, and ginger slices. Cover the pot and steam it over water—that is, set the covered pot within a larger vessel of boiling water—until the flesh becomes tender and begins to separate from bone. Remove from heat and debone carefully, preserving the integrity of the bird. Use no additional water throughout; the chicken's own moisture and the wine provide the necessary steam. This is the method of the Jiang household (蔣御史家法).