Shannon here: Ruth Whong shares an interesting dish from her latest dual-time odyseey novel, Thunders over Idle Land, plus a free download of Love at the Garden Tomb. Any comments or answers to the question in this post will go into Wednesday’s drawing. Deadline: March 8th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Ruth:
Beggar’s Chicken
In my newest fiction, Thunders over Idle Land (Book 2 in the dual-time odyssey series), the protagonist, a kung fu master, landed on a remote island without food. As he explored the dense, tropical landscape, he used his skill and caught a fowl. Without cooking utensils, he followed a well-known Chinese recipe called “The Beggar’s Chicken” to cook his bird.
Beggar’s Chicken, a dish originating from eastern China, is a gastronomic delight steeped in tradition, ingenuity, and timeless culinary flair. This beloved dish exemplifies not only the ability to create delicious food using simple ingredients but also the profound relationship between culture and cuisine.
The legend of Beggar’s Chicken is as enchanting as the dish itself. As the story goes, a destitute beggar in imperial China stumbled upon a chicken but, lacking any cooking utensils, was forced to come up with an ingenious solution. He coated the whole chicken (uncleaned, ungutted, with feathers) in mud and placed it in a makeshift fire pit to bake. When he cracked open the hardened mud shell and peeled it away together with the feathers, a tender and aromatic chicken awaited inside. The delightful aroma attracted the attention of passing royal members, who were so impressed that the dish was adopted and refined in the imperial kitchen.
At the heart of Beggar’s Chicken is a whole chicken encased in a layer of clay before being roasted. Later versions use a cleaned, gutted chicken stuffed with spices such as ginger, star anise, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, and garlic. The preparation of Beggar’s Chicken requires patience to encase the bird meticulously and wait for the slow cooking process to work its magic.
Beggar’s Chicken is a reminder of the ingenuity rooted in Chinese cuisine, where simplicity meets sophistication. It highlights the importance of resourcefulness and the ability to elevate basic ingredients to something flavorful and memorable. The story behind the dish also touches on themes of transformation and creativity, rendering it a cultural emblem that resonates well beyond its taste.
Modern renditions of Beggar’s Chicken may not involve mud encasements, but chefs often use a bread dough wrap or stick with a less traditional approach using foil or parchment paper. Despite these adaptations, the essence of the dish remains as an homage to an ingenious origin story, allowing the chicken to be steamed within its own juices to concentrate its essence.
Eating Beggar’s Chicken is more of an event than a mere meal. The cracking open of the hardened layer brings an element of drama. The tender meat, easily coming off the bone, is a testament to its thoughtful preparation.
Question for Readers: Given the opportunity, would you try the beggar’s chicken? Why or why not?
About Ruth: Dr. Wuwong (PhD in biochemistry, MBA in finance) has published 120+ scientific books and papers (under her legal name) and a few Christian fiction books (Love at the Garden Tomb, The Way We Forgive, Blazing China, and Detour to Agape, under R. F. Whong). She lives in the Midwest with her husband, a retired pastor. They served together at three churches from 1987 to 2020. Her grown son works in a nearby city.
She currently runs a small biotech company (www.vidasym.com) and has raised more than twenty million US dollars during the past few years for Vidasym.
In addition to her weekly newsletter and the platform (www.ruthforchrist.com), she’s active in several writers’ groups, including ACFW, Word Weavers, Facebook, and Goodreads. Through these connections, she plans newsletter/promotion swaps with others and has writers endorse her books, write forewords, and host her on guest blogs. Learn more & connect:
Ruth’s Facebook Ruth’s X Ruth’s Website
Ruth’s Linkedin Ruth’s Instagram
Ruth’s Goodreads Ruth’s Bookbub
Love at the Garden Tomb – Free Download
#1 New Release in 2 categories. Free on KU. Echoes over Stormy Sea, a thrilling adventure set in distant lands by Whong, named a 2025 Featured Author by the Minnesota Anoka County Library.
This book, crowned the Scrivenings Press 2024 GetPubbed contest winner in the historical fiction genre, was chosen by readers on Many Books as one of the best books of the month for January, 2025.
Interested in Ruth’s other titles? Get your copy/copies now!
Come back March 5th for Carrie Walker!
Leave a Reply