Jinfeng Braised Chicken

Jinfeng braised chicken is the signature product of the century-old "Jinfeng" house of Shijiazhuang, fried to set colour under a honey glaze and then slow-cooked in a secret herbal master broth until amber-red, tender to the bone and fragrant without heaviness, the city's most representative ready-to-eat speciality.

Its craft grew from the 1908 Ma family chicken shop on Daqiao Street, where the Hui couple Ma Hongchang adapted Baoding's braising into something new; through the joint public-private merger and the reform era it took the name "Jinfeng" and became a Ministry of Commerce time-honoured brand, a gift Shijiazhuang residents often carry when visiting family and friends.

It can be eaten cold or briefly warmed, often served as a banquet cold plate or taken on the road; the whole bird is torn by hand and dipped in its own juices, best with a steamed bun or sesame flatbread.

The honey-fried amber skin, the deep herbal fragrance of the aged master broth and the fall-off-the-bone tenderness are the marks of Jinfeng braised chicken.