Barrel Chicken (Tongziji)

Barrel chicken is a classic Kaifeng dish: a plump local hen is trussed into a barrel shape and braised in long-aged master stock, emerging golden, richly savory and crisp-tender without being greasy.

Kaifeng taverns recorded cooking barrel chicken as far back as the Northern Song; revived in the city by Ma Yongcen in the mid-19th century, it became a defining dish of local Hui Muslim cuisine.

It is served cold and prized for the knife work: sliced thin against the grain so the meat stays crisp and tender, it is eaten as a cold appetizer with drinks or alongside a meal, growing more fragrant with each bite.

The defining house is Ma Yuxing, whose barrel chicken is one of Kaifeng's most renowned signatures.