Fengjie Clay-Pot Chicken 奉节盬子鸡
Fengjie Clay-Pot Chicken is featured among the local specialties of Chongqing.
Fengjie Clay-Pot Chicken (奉节盬子鸡) is a chicken pot from Zhuyuan (竹园) in Fengjie County (奉节县), Chongqing, named after the unusual vessel it is cooked in, the guzi (盬子). It is on Chongqing's municipal list of intangible cultural heritage.
How it is made
The guzi is shaped like a drum, with a 'sky pot' (天锅) on top, and the guzi's base flares out like the bell of a trumpet.
The traditional version combines aged high-mountain cured pork smoked over cypress branches, a young free-range chicken, aged radish (陈大头萝卜) and Zhuyuan ginseng (竹园高丽参). A little fermented glutinous-rice liquid (醪糟水) and ginger go in with them, and the pot is simmered over a low fire for about four hours. No salt needs to be added. Cooks may replace the cured pork with matsutake mushrooms (松茸菌) or with a mixed 'three-delicacy' meat (三鲜肉).
Where it comes from
Accounts of its age differ. A 2023 map of Chongqing's local winter soups, published by the Chongqing Planning and Natural Resources Bureau, says the dish was born in Zhuyuan town (竹园镇) more than 100 years ago and names it after its vessel. A 2024 map from the same bureau places its origin in Zhuyuan township (竹园乡) more than 200 years ago.
The 2024 map covers the 43 headline dishes (头碗菜) of Yuwei 360 Bowls (渝味360碗), a list of Chongqing dishes for visitors issued by the city's culture and tourism commission, its commerce commission and other departments. Fengjie's Zhuyuan clay-pot chicken is one of the dishes on that map, and both maps record its place on the municipal heritage list.
More dishes to compare
Explore related local specialties and compare their names, preparation notes and ordering guidance.
Gele Mountain spicy chicken 歌乐山辣子鸡 →
Gele Mountain spicy chicken (歌乐山辣子鸡) is another chicken dish among the Yuwei 360 Bowls headline dishes; set beside this unsalted four-hour pot it shows how differently Chongqing cooks the same bird.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer on 2026-09-23. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.