A wide white plate is heaped with glossy red-brown stewed chicken, golden potato chunks, dried red chilies and green pepper, with wide flat noodles showing at the edge and a pair of chopsticks resting on the rim.
The regional cooking of Xinjiang, with naan, pilaf, mutton and wheat foods.
Big plate chicken is chicken pieces stewed with potato, chili and spices into a glossy red dish, served on a large plate with wide belt noodles. Cook Li Shilin opened a restaurant in Shawan, Xinjiang, in 1987 and served chicken on a big plate; customers ordered “a big plate of chicken”, and the dish later spread along National Highway 312. This origin account comes from 2025 reports, not a dated primary document; chronologies are inconsistent, with another account giving the late 1980s.
What
Big plate chicken is chicken pieces stewed with potato, chili and spices into a glossy red dish, piled on one large plate and eaten with wide belt noodles.1,2,7,8
When
Cook Li Shilin opened a restaurant in Shawan in 1987 and served chicken on a big plate; customers ordered “a big plate of chicken”, and the dish spread along National Highway 312. This origin account comes from a February 10, 2025 report, not a dated primary document, and chronologies differ: one gives the late 1980s for its emergence and the mid to late 1990s for its popularity, another gives both the 1980s and around the 1990s, while a 2026 account says only more than 40 years ago.1,2,3,6
Where
Shawan, Xinjiang, on National Highway 312, is identified as the dish's birthplace in accounts from 2025 and 2026.3,5,6
How
Chicken pieces are stir-fried with dried chili, spices and a paste such as chili bean paste, simmered in water or stock with potato and sweet peppers, then reduced and served over wide noodles on a large plate.7,8
Why
It began in roadside restaurants in the 1980s, mainly serving truck drivers; a 2014 standard requires belt noodles. Shawan has dozens of versions, replacing potato with beans, pickles, mushrooms or wide noodle sheets, while Xinjiang usually adds potato. These accounts appeared in 2025 and 2026 reports, respectively.4,6
Impact and influence
Shawan has more than 1,000 businesses around the dish and about 16,000 associated jobs. Group standards were set in 2023, a brand flagship opened in February 2024, and packaged gift boxes are available.3,4
Legend has it that roadside restaurants in Shawan at the outset served the chicken on eight-inch plates, and one bird made three plates. One day it was served on a big enamel plate and customers began asking for a big plate of chicken. Chinese Wikipedia credits this to Li Shilin, while the Xinhua report says that in 1987 customers ordered “a big plate of chicken”; the two differ in detail.
Told in: A Shawan telling found in Chinese Wikipedia and in the 2025 Xinhua and Economic Daily report, which relays Li Shilin's own recollection; there is no document, and the two versions differ in detail.
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
This is the big plate chicken I make at home, and one large pot is enough: brown the chicken, stew it with potato, then pour it over separately boiled wide noodles. I looked at two cooks' recipes, one with boneless thighs and one with a whole chicken cut up, and I use bone-in thighs and drumsticks. It is a simplified home version, not the way restaurants in Shawan make it. The amounts and timings below are my own choices at home, and the chicken must be cooked through.
Ingredients
Chicken thighs or drumsticks, bone-in 1 kg, cut into pieces of about 3 cm
Potatoes 2, about 400 g, cut into chunks
Green or sweet pepper 1, about 150 g, cut into pieces
Onion 1, cut into pieces
Ginger 4 slices
Garlic 4 cloves, crushed
Dried chilies 8
Star anise 2 pieces
Sichuan peppercorns 1 teaspoon
Chili bean paste 2 tablespoons, about 30 g
Shaoxing wine 2 tablespoons
Light soy sauce 1 tablespoon
Sugar 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Cooking oil 3 tablespoons, about 45 ml
Water about 600 ml
Wide wheat noodles 300 g
Scallions 2 stalks, chopped
Steps
Boil the wide noodles for the time on the package, drain, toss with a little oil so they do not stick, and spread them on a large plate.
Heat the pot, add the oil, and fry the ginger, garlic, dried chilies, star anise and Sichuan peppercorns for about 30 seconds. Add the chili bean paste and fry until the oil turns red.
Add the chicken and stir for about 5 minutes until the surface changes color. Splash in the wine and soy sauce and stir in the sugar.
Pour in about 600 ml of water, bring to a boil, then turn the heat down, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add the potatoes and cook for about 15 minutes more.
Add the pepper and onion, uncover and cook for about 5 minutes, letting the sauce thicken. Taste and add salt if needed.
Check: cut into a large piece of chicken. It is done when there is no pink near the bone, the juices run clear and a chopstick slides easily into the potato. If not, cover and cook a few minutes more.
Scatter the scallions on top, pour everything with its sauce over the noodles and eat hot.
Tips
I boil the noodles separately and spread them on the plate beforehand so the sauce does not overcook them; this is my own habit.
I cut the potatoes fairly large so they hold their shape after cooking; this is my own preference.
Picks come from public lists and guides and were checked on the dates shown; places can change, so confirm before you go.
Manpengge
Shawan, Xinjiang
Order: Big plate chicken
The 10 February 2025 Xinhua and Economic Daily report names Manpengge on National Highway 312 and describes it as the restaurant Li Shilin opened. If you are looking for big plate chicken in Shawan, this is one the report names.
The same 2025 report names the main store that carries Li Shilin's name. All three places come from this one report, so check that a place is open before you go.
