Diguo ji is the dish that defines Xuzhou's culinary character. A whole chicken (or large pieces) is braised hard with dried red chillies, star anise, doubanjiang (broad bean paste), and dark soy sauce in a flat-bottomed earthenware pot over direct flame. As the liquid reduces and intensifies, dough rounds — thick discs of unleavened bread — are stood upright around the pot's rim, propped against the chicken, where they steam and absorb the sauce from below.
The result is two dishes in one: rich, spicy braised chicken with dark, complex sauce; and soft-bottomed, sauce-soaked bread that is one of the better things you can eat in northern Jiangsu. The dish is served in dozens of restaurants across the city, ranging from casual canteens near the old downtown station to more formal dining rooms. The portions are generous and it is typically ordered as the centrepiece for two or three people.