At the table
Eat a small piece of bread with the chicken and sauce. Let the food cool enough, keep clear of the hot pot and check chicken pieces for bones.
The breads contain wheat, and the dish contains chicken. This version uses soy sauce and cooking wine and can be chili-hot. Recipes and additions vary; confirm the seasonings for dietary restrictions. Chicken pieces may contain bones.
GET TO KNOW THE DISH
What goes into it?
Explore some key ingredients below. Preparations may use additional seasonings and ingredients.
This home version uses dried red chili in the braise, fresh green and red pointed peppers near the end, and rehydrated dried shiitake. Other vegetables may be added.
Typical ingredients
In some versions
Recipes vary by restaurant.
How does it taste?
Savory and chili-spiced
- Chili heat
- Texture
- Bread crisp above, broth-soft below.
- How it’s made
- Chicken pieces are stir-fried with aromatics and seasonings, then simmered. Thin dough pieces are attached to the pot walls while the chicken finishes cooking; part of the bread touches the sauce. The pot is covered until the chicken and breads are cooked.
This home version uses dried red chili in the braise, fresh green and red pointed peppers near the end, and rehydrated dried shiitake. Other vegetables may be added.
A CONNECTION TO PLACE
Origin & regional roots
Associated with Jiangsu.
About this regional connection
Jiangsu: Associated with Xuzhou in northern Jiangsu and the wider Huaihai cooking tradition; no exclusive origin claim.
Ask if they have it first
请问你们有地锅鸡吗？
Do you have this item?
A LITTLE SOMETHING TO READ
Story & history
Chicken and bread sharing one pot in Xuzhou
Diguo cooking brings the dish and its staple together in one pot. A traditional courtyard arrangement used a simple stove with an iron pot: stew cooked inside while breads were attached around the edge, and diners gathered around it. In Xuzhou’s chicken version, the breads take up the stew’s flavor and offer both a crusted part and a softer, sauce-soaked part. Sharing the chicken and breads is central to the meal.