Xuzhou Ground Kettle Chicken is a famous folk dish that comes from Xuzhou City in Jiangsu Province. Originated in the Weishan Lake Area at the junction of northern Jiangsu Province and southern Shandong Province, until now it has had a history of more than one thousand years.
“Ground Kettle” is made on the ground with clay or stones, and a cavity in which wood can be burnt is left, while on the cavity a iron kettle can be set up. If using dry wood to make fire to heat the food in the kettle, it will make the food heated more fully, and in most cases, the meal thus made is more mellow in taste.
Tortillas are the main staple of Xuzhou people in their daily life, which equals to the status of rice in some areas. In the process of stir-frying the chicken with pepper, Sichuan pepper, etc. and then adding water for stew, seasoning making process, the pieces of rolled thin tortillas are pasted to the kettle side, so the dishes in the kettle and the tortillas can be heated at the same time.
In this kind of cooking method that combines meal and dishes as one, the chicken broth immerses into the tortillas, and the aroma of tortillas also spreads into the dish. The tortillas taking advantage of the dish taste, and the dish taking advantage of the aroma of tortillas, finally the taste of the two are both fresher and richer, and it has the characteristics of coexistence of soft smoothness and dry fragrance.
Now, some chefs improve the traditional cooking method of Ground Kettle Dishes and try the use of a variety of different ingredients, thus introduce the ground kettle delicacies of Ground Kettle Fish, Ground Kettle Beef, Ground Kettle Three Delicacies, Ground Kettle Beancurd, Ground Kettle Lobsters and so on, which are also well received.
