Baked Chicken of Lisu Ethnic Group in Nujiang 

Ingredient Selection

• Chicken: Locally free-range chickens are usually chosen. The meat of these chickens is firm and tastes delicious, with a rich chicken aroma. The free-range method allows the chickens to move around in a natural environment, making the meat more tender and juicy, and the subcutaneous fat is evenly distributed, resulting in a better taste when the chicken is roasted.
• Spices: Commonly used spices include tsaoko fruits, Chinese prickly ash, star anise, cassia bark, bay leaves, etc. These spices have a strong aroma and can add a unique flavor to the roasted chicken. In addition, garlic, ginger, onions, etc. are also used, which can not only remove the fishy smell and enhance the aroma but also make the chicken more flavorful.

Preparation Method

• Marinating: After cleaning the chicken thoroughly, make several cuts on the surface of the chicken to facilitate the spices to penetrate. Mix the prepared spices evenly, add an appropriate amount of salt, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, cooking wine and other seasonings, and blend them into a paste. Then evenly smear the paste on the inner and outer surfaces of the chicken. The marinating time is generally more than half an hour, allowing the chicken to fully absorb the flavor of the spices.
• Roasting: The traditional roasting method is to use chestnut firewood charcoal for slow roasting. Fix the marinated chicken with an iron fork and place it on the charcoal fire. Slowly rotate the chicken during the roasting process to ensure that all parts of the chicken are evenly heated. In this way, the roasted chicken has a golden and crispy outer skin and tender and juicy meat inside. During the roasting process, pay attention to controlling the heat and the distance to avoid burning the chicken. At the same time, brush a layer of cooking oil or honey water on the surface of the chicken in a timely manner to make the chicken skin brighter and crispier.

Flavor Characteristics

• Appearance: The roasted chicken of the Lisu Ethnic Group in Nujiang has a golden color. The chicken skin is shiny and smooth, glistening temptingly under the light, making people’s mouths water at the sight of it.
• Taste: The outer skin is crispy and delicious. When you bite into it, it makes a “crunch” sound. The inner chicken meat is tender and juicy with a delicate taste. The flavor of the spices fully penetrates into the chicken meat, and you can feel the rich aroma with every bite. The original flavor of the chicken and the aroma of the spices are mutually integrated, with rich layers, leaving an endless aftertaste.

Cultural Significance

• Social Function: In the daily life and festival celebrations of the Lisu Ethnic Group, roasted chicken is an essential delicacy and is often used to entertain relatives and friends. It is a symbol of the warm hospitality of the Lisu people and an important medium for enhancing the relationship between people. During important festivals such as the Kuoshijie Festival, people gather together to enjoy roasted chicken and other delicacies and share the joy of the festival.
• Cultural Inheritance: The roasted chicken of the Lisu Ethnic Group in Nujiang carries the historical culture and traditional customs of the Lisu people. From the selection of ingredients, the blending of spices to the roasting method, it has been passed down from generation to generation, retaining the ancient flavor and production techniques, and it is an important part of the cultural inheritance of the Lisu people.