Ingredients

3-1/2 lb. frying chicken
4 lb. wet modeling clay
3 dried lotus leaves
Stuffing:
1/2 lb. ground pork
1 Tbsp. peanut oil
2 Tbsp. salted mustard green
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. fresh ginger root; minced
Mixture For Skin:
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 Tbsp. medium sherry
1 Tbsp. dark soy sauce

Cooking Instructions

Prepare Chicken: Trim excess fat from chicken; remove wing tips. Mix mixture for skin; rub chicken inside and out with it. Leave uncovered at room temperature, while coating is absorbed and dried. Repeat if necessary. Stuffing: In hot wok, heat peanut oil to smoking. Stir-fry ground pork for 2 minutes; add mustard green, ginger and sugar; stir-fry 1 more minute. Remove and cool. Lotus Leaves: Number of leaves depends on their size and that of chicken. Reduce heat under boiling water to simmer, and steep leaves for 3-5 minutes, until wet through and pliable (not for long or leaves may shred). Now soak in cold water for 10 minutes, or longer, until time to use them; open folded leaves in cold water to wash them. Wrap Chicken: Preheat oven to 550. Stuff chicken with pork mixture. Cut hard center out of lotus leaves, then slit along fold about 3 inches on each side of center, so cut away center can be overlapped. Wrap chicken in 3 layers of lotus leaves. Tie securely with piece of cotton or fiber string (don’t use nylon; it might melt). Spread soft, wet modeling clay about 1/2-inch thick on sheet of newspaper. Bring clay pack around chicken and seal. Remove newspaper. (Use foil if clay unavailable.) Roasting: Place clay-covered chicken on rack in shallow roasting pan in preheated oven. Bake for 1 hour; reduce heat to 350 and bake for another 1-1/2 hours. Serve: Present fired clay chicken to table. Crack clay with suitable object, allowing some of steam to escape before you proceed. Remove clay; carefully cut open lotus leaves with scissors. Chicken will be very soft and tender; break apart to get at stuffing. Serve guests, or invite them to pick with chopsticks.
 
 
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