🍽️ Paper-Wrapped Chicken

Chicken fried in paper to seal juices.

Paper-Wrapped Chicken is a classic of Wuzhou, Guangxi, part of the Cantonese cooking tradition along the Xi River. Tender chicken pieces are marinated with ginger juice, rice wine, light soy and oyster sauce, wrapped individually in squares of edible paper, then deep-fried gently in warm oil. The paper seals in the juices, so when opened the chicken is juicy and well-seasoned with a faint fragrant note from the wrapper. Temperature control is critical: too hot and the paper burns, too cool and the meat is underdone. Served still wrapped, it is unwrapped at the table for a touch of ceremony, and remains a signature of Wuzhou restaurants and a taste carried along the Xi River for generations.