Recipe: Chen Pi Chicken

Chen Pi Chicken is quite a common dish in China – Chen Pi is dried tangerine peel, and it is often used to flavour chicken. This is a great barbeque recipe, or it can be grilled or roasted.

The dish ‘orange chicken’ available in many Chinese restaurants in the West is probably a westernization of chen pi chicken (cooked with orange juice instead of peel)

Ingredients:

6 chicken drumsticks
1 tsp shaoshing rice wine (or dry sherry)
1 tsp soya sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp chen pi, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, crushed
0.5″ piece of root ginger, very finely chopped

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients together, covering the chicken evenly, and leave to marinate for at least an hour (overnight is preferable) then barbeque, grill or roast until the chicken is cooked and the juices run clear. Can be eaten hot or cold.

Energetics:

Chicken is a very nourishing food. The chen pi, ginger and garlic add warmth and movement to the dish, and help to clear Phlegm. Overall this recipe is strengthening and warming, and benefits conditions of Qi stagnation and Phlegm.