Chicken cooked in a clay pot with a chimney at its centre, set over boiling water, so the steam gathers into a pure, clear broth.
What makes it steam-pot chicken
The Jianshui clay pot with its central chimney.
No water added — the broth is condensed steam and chicken juices.
Plain seasoning: ginger, spring onion and salt.
Where it comes from
The pot is the dish: made from the clay of Jianshui, south of Kunming, with a hollow spout rising through the middle. It's said to date back to the Qing dynasty in Jianshui, and it became a Kunming restaurant dish in the twentieth century.
Nothing but steam goes in, so the broth that gathers is the chicken's own, lightly seasoned with ginger and salt. Some add medicinal roots such as sānqī, the notoginseng Yunnan is known for.
How it varies
With sānqī
Notoginseng root added, for a bitter, tonic broth.
With mushrooms
Wild mushrooms or dried shiitake in the pot with the chicken.