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Concubine's Chicken 贵妃鸡

By Jason Wang

4.2

(3)

Photo of Concubine Chicken with Longevity Noodles.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Lillian Chou

Back in the Tang dynasty, there was a famous voluptuous concubine named Yang Guifei 杨贵妃. She was considered one of the great beauties of ancient China, and her influence over the emperor in Chang-an (ancient Xi’an) brought music, art, dance, and food to the forefront of high culture. Bonus: She was from the nearby Shanxi province. We named this dish after her not just because she was from our region, but also because she was a little hedonistic, a woman who knew what she liked and ate what she wanted. We like to think she would’ve loved this dish of juicy dark-meat chicken, with every flavor you could possible crave: sweet, sour, and just a little spicy. A perfectly hedonistic meal.

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