Money Chicken Tower
A traditional Sichuan specialty made with chicken forcemeat, pork fat, and ham shaped into coins, then pan-fried until crisp, fragrant, and tender.
Ingredients
Chicken paste
250g
White-root chives (washed and cut into short sections, soaked in clean water)
75g
Cooked pork fat (cut into 0.5 cm thick, 4 cm diameter round slices)
500g
Sichuan salt
1g
Cooked ham (cut into 0.7 cm cubes)
40g
Vinegar
7g
White sugar
10g
Sesame oil (5g for finishing the pan, the remainder for mixing with chives)
10g
MSG
1g
Lard (for seasoning the pan)
20g
Egg white paste
100g
Instructions
1
Preparation
Wash the chives and cut into 0.3 cm short sections, soak in clean water. Cut the ham into 0.7 cm cubes. Cut the cooked pork fat into 0.5 cm thick, 4 cm diameter round slices, 24 slices total.
2
Shaping
Lay the pork fat slices one by one on a large round plate, pat dry, and spread egg white paste on each slice. Place a 2.5 cm chicken meatball on top. Place a ham slice on the meatball (press to stick), forming a chicken tower shape.
3
Pan-frying
Place a wok over low heat, season the wok with lard, place the 'chicken towers' in with the pork fat side down, pan-fry until the pork fat turns golden and the chicken paste is fully cooked, drizzle with 5g of sesame oil to finish, and arrange on a large rectangular plate in the center.
4
Side dish
Remove the chives, drain the water, and place in a bowl. Add Sichuan salt, sugar, vinegar, and sesame oil, mix well, and place at both ends of the rectangular plate to complete.
