Suiping Tongzi Chicken 遂平桶子鸡
Suiping Tongzi Chicken is featured among the local specialties of Henan.
Suiping Tongzi Chicken (遂平桶子鸡) is a chicken dish from Suiping County (遂平县) in Zhumadian (驻马店), Henan, which the Zhumadian Daily (驻马店日报) describes as a traditional signature dish of the county and places within Henan cuisine (豫菜).
Flavour and texture
The Zhumadian Daily puts the look of the finished bird down to strict choice of ingredients and careful preparation. A well-made Suiping Tongzi Chicken comes out round and shapely, with no splits and no torn skin, and its colour is a bright yellow. It smells fragrant and tastes clean and fresh; the meat is tender and at the same time crisp to bite, and rich without being greasy.
Where it comes from
Local tradition dates the dish to the Northern Song dynasty and holds that the technique first came out of the imperial palace kitchen. Both points are told as legend rather than recorded history, and the Zhumadian Daily reports them in that way, as something said of the dish.
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Kaifeng Tongzi chicken 桶子鸡 →
Kaifeng's tongzi chicken carries the same dish name within Henan cooking; the Suiping version is judged on a bright-yellow, round bird with unbroken skin.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and fact-checked against them on 2026-09-24. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.