Fancy eating Beggar chicken (Hak Yi Kai) without having to travel all the way to Jugra or Ijok?
I bought this Beggar Chicken from a roadside vendor along the busy Jalan Kuching in KL. If you are driving from KL town centre, this stall is located by the roadside just before Tesco Selayang (formally Macro) and the middle ring road Batu Caves round about. The first stall is selling live crab, the second one is selling Indian Rojak and you will see this Beggar Chicken replica being displayed by the old uncle who lives around this area. Slow down your car before you reach this location and put your left signal light before your turn out into the dirt road. The traffic here is very heavy and fast moving!
I bought one small Beggar chicken (Hak Yi Kai) which cost me RM23 (USD7). The chicken is marinated with Chinese Herbs like Tong Kwai, kei chi, yoke chok and tong sum before it is wrapped with aluminum foil, plastic, oil paper and lastly a layer of wet clay is put over it. Then the chicken is baked slowly in wood and charcoal amber for many hours. The aroma is sealed inside the clay and the chicken is very tender after hours of cooking. The meat is very juicy too! Yum Yum, the taste is ‘mou tak teng’ (damm nice)! Why they called it Beggar Chicken? Try google this term; I bet your will find many sites which explain the origin of this wonderful dish!
See the small Chinese character on the hardened clay? I have to use a pestle to break open the hard outer clay layer.
Here goes, knock knock.......heeeeyiahhhh! Breaking open the clay layer. The second layer after the clay is oil paper.
Then the next layer is plastic to seal all the juice inside. The fourth layer is the aluminium foil with little nice sweet and aromatic soup inside.
Beggar chicken (Hak Yi Kai) all ready to be eaten. Yum yum rice please. The Chinese herbs like tong kwai, tong sum, kei chi, red dates and yoke chok inside the chicken cavity. Mmmmmmm, now I can enjoy my nice dinner!
See the small Chinese character on the hardened clay? I have to use a pestle to break open the hard outer clay layer.
Here goes, knock knock.......heeeeyiahhhh! Breaking open the clay layer. The second layer after the clay is oil paper.
Then the next layer is plastic to seal all the juice inside. The fourth layer is the aluminium foil with little nice sweet and aromatic soup inside.
i no eat herbs. even light ones. hehehe. but looks delicious.
ReplyDeletenever seen this before. only heard about chee pau kai.
ReplyDeleteWo, this look delicious, if I happen to be there, must buy this!
ReplyDeleteThis chicken looks so moist. I bet it taste heavenly.
ReplyDeleteAt first I thought you made them yourself. It's good that you can buy them huh?
I would so love to try this beggar chicken, yum. Thanks for putting the price in USD, gives a better idea for non-locals how much it costs.
ReplyDeleteUiks...cheap leh at RM23. A lot of herbs.
ReplyDeleteBtw, did you knw that Kelana jaya also have Beggar Chicken Stall. It's opposite the LRT station. There is a main road going to a school. The stall is located at the junction. Selling Roast Duck Too. i have not tried that stall before. Have you?
i heard of this chicken before, really wanna try lah!!
ReplyDeletewhat a fancy way to pack the chicken! i love how they cook the herbs together with the chicken, making it smell very good! :)
ReplyDeletePete to those hard core 'speculators' when they see "Big" or "Small" you know where their minds go to haha? Btw do you need to make any reservation or can just buy it on the spot? Thanks Pete.
ReplyDeleteTuti : Aiya, herbs good for your. Next time have to eat when you have babies leh!
ReplyDeleteWenn : Try it, it is nicer than Chee Pau Kai....not oily.
Sonia : It makes good family dinner dish!
Ai Shiang : It would be hard and messy to bake this type of chicken at home....imagine have to coat it with wet clay, but my kids would have lots of fun...., maybe considering to try a home made one...ha ha ha!
Christine : It is a nice and inovative way of cooking chicken.
Smalkucing : I have seen roast duck in that area. Didn't know they have begger chicken too....must try when I pass though there! Thks
Kikey : Come to KL I belanja you one!
levian : Agree, it really smells good!
Bro Cheah : Ha ha, big or small 4D. Don't have to preorder. The uncle will be by the main road side around 4pm. Just buy on the spot.
wahhhhh... hak yi gai.. never had one b4 wor..
ReplyDeleteI want to eat beggar chicken! I've tried beggar duck in China and I think it's not as good as beggar chicken : )
ReplyDeleteHave not had beggar chicken in ages! :)
ReplyDeleteoh, interesting!! the one you get is still with the mud/clay on, very raw.. what i normally get is those already cleanup till the foil paper level..
ReplyDeletehey, looks yummy! Never try this before.
ReplyDeleteLook delicious, you mean the uncle cooked them at home and then sells it by the road side. That's interesting, must try. TQ
ReplyDeleteWhy dowan belanja me... T_T
ReplyDeleteWah, the chicken looks big leh, I usually got small and skinny chicken inside and more expensive. Must try this one.
ReplyDeletewah lao, jalan kuching! i will definitely remember that and go search for it one day xD looks so damn tastely leh! i'm a sucker for good chickens :D
ReplyDeleteDonna : Actually it is like herbal chicken but more aromatic and tender.
ReplyDeleteFoongpc : Wah got beggar duck also but I thought duck would taste better because more oil.
Mei Teng : Now can buy at Jalan Kuching and Pj also. See comment by Small Kucing.
SK : It is good to get it this way, still hot until dinner time. LOL!
MLTC : Nice leh...yum yum, so tender.
Bananaz : Yes, the uncle cook it at home and sell by the roadside. Interesting meal for a family....my kids love it!
Cleff : Ha ha, u still haven't tell me where you work leh?
Molly : It is actually quite skinny Kampung Chicken but very tender....looks a little different in the photo than real life.
Conan-cat : If you like herbal chicken with strong tong kwai smell you would like this one.
next time i have babies ah? *pengsan kaw kaw* what age oredy wor!! hahha
ReplyDeleteTuti : Ha ha, I think I saw your photo before leh....still looks very young lar!
ReplyDeleteTuti : Ha ha, I think I saw your photo before leh....still looks very young lar!
ReplyDeleteDon't really like... Prefer the Ipoh curry chicken wrapped in bread one.
ReplyDeleteP.S.
I was in KL for a couple of days but was too caught up with my daughter's pre-departure briefing and taking her around, so did not get to meet anybody... Sorry!
STP : No problem, guess you must be very busy with all the schedule and valuable time spent with your daughter.
ReplyDeletewow, so yummy looking. I wonder why it's called beggar chicken instead of herbal chicken :D
ReplyDeleteMommy : Because a beggar once found a chicken but did not have any cooking utensil to cook it, so he just cover it with clay and cook it using wood fire....the result....a nice tasting chicken..LOL!
ReplyDeleteHi there. We LOVE beggar chicken and made a trip all the way to Ijok to get one. This one that u got, does it have a lot of gravy/soup?
ReplyDeleteSyieda Busu : Thanks for dropping by my blog. Yes this one has gravy, right amount and thickness.
ReplyDelete