Chicken Mull or Muddle - what is it? Recipe is EASY! (2024)

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I had never heard of Chicken Mull until a few years ago. And then I found out that the Chicken Mull Festival happens 8 miles from me in Bear Grass, NC, population 69. This year, the festival is on Saturday, October 28, 2023. My friend Nancy Sparks had a great recipe for Chicken Mull, so we made it and here it is. It is really quite good!

Chicken Mull or Muddle - what is it? Recipe is EASY! (1)

Chicken Mull – What Is It?

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Author: Chloe Tuttle

Ingredients

  • Several quarts water
  • ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
  • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • ½-1 teaspoon cracked red pepper or to taste
  • 1 T lard
  • 1 3-4 pound chicken cut up (larger is fine too) You will need about 4 cups cooked chicken
  • 1 box of Saltine Crackers salted (you will probably use 2-3 sleeves)
  • Hot sauce for serving

Instructions

  • Using a large stock pot, add several quarts of water, salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper and lard and bring to a boil.

  • Add cut-up chicken and enough water to cover the chicken. Return to a boil and cook for 1-2 hours or until chicken is tender and falling off the bones.

  • Remove chicken from broth and strain into a large bowl, reserving any broth.

  • After chicken has cooled, pull meat off the bones, discarding the bones and the skin. Tear chicken into shreds, using your hands. Be careful to remove all bones.

  • Strain and transfer the broth to a separate pan or bowl and wash the cooking pot to remove the chicken residue that is stuck on the sides of the pot. Add the broth back to the pot.

  • When the broth comes back to a boil, add the picked chicken to the pot and turn heat to simmer.

  • Crush 2 sleeves of saltines and slowly add to the pot. Stir and continue to simmer. The mull should not have much excess liquid. If there is liquid, add more crackers.

  • Simmer on low heat about 20 minutes or until hot and thickened, stirring often – hence the Mull moniker.

  • Hint: it is better the next day – the red pepper has a chance to be heard!

  • Yield: 6-7 two-cup servings

Like this recipe?Follow us on Pinterest: @bigmill or tag #bigmillbb

Charlotte Griffin, the mayor of Bear Grass, NC, tells the story of how the Chicken Mull Festival came to be. In 2015, two other Bear Grass residents, Kevin Harris and Justin Edwards, asked Charlotte if they could start a festival for Bear Grass. Charlotte was intrigued.

One idea was to have a Moonshine Festival – all locals know that in the Prohibition Days Bear Grass had some good moonshine – it has been dubbed by some as the Moonshine Capitol of the World. Alas, the technicalities and federalessoon made this idea nearly impossible to pull off. So that is when the idea for a Chicken Mull Festival came to be.

Charlotte tells the history of her grandfather and other Bear Grass tobacco farmers who had to stay up all night to fire the tobacco barns – thus curing it. I remember my dad and Walter Biggs doing that here on the farm. There was not much to do, so the fellows in Bear Grass would get a big iron pot, a chicken, and some saltine crackers and cook up a pot of Chicken Mull as they called it.

It is odd how the tradition didn’t cross Highway 17 into Farm Life where my folks lived. Charlotte did say that her uncle married a Farm Life girl and he introduced them to Chicken Mull. I don’t remember ever eating Chicken Mull in my youth. In some parts of the south it is called Chicken Muddle, usually this has other things in it like tomatoes and peppers. It is difficult to trace the origin of this humble dish.

After the men folks no longer had to fire the barns with wood, they would still cook up a pot of mull at the end of the tobacco season for the “hands” – the folks who worked the fields. Even now when groups like the Ruritans have a fund-raiser, you might see Chicken Mull on the menu.

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It seems Chicken Mull is popular in the Carolinas and in parts of Georgia, often popping up in barbecue joints and at church dinners. In some parts of Georgia it is made with milk, but in the Carolinas it is usually made with water, chicken and saltine crackers. Be on the lookout or just whip up a batch for yourself.

Don’t miss the Chicken Mull Festival in Bear Grass, NC. It happens every year on the 4th Saturday of October – this year in 2023 it is October 28th. Check out North Carolina Weekend’s story of the Chicken Mull Festival.

Distances From:
Raleigh, NC – 102 miles
Greenville, NC – 20 miles
New Bern, NC – 55 miles
Big Mill Bed and Breakfast in Williamston, NC – 6 miles (252) 792-8787

Chicken Mull or Muddle - what is it? Recipe is EASY! (3)

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Chicken Mull or Muddle - what is it? Recipe is EASY! (6)

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Chicken Mull or Muddle - what is it? Recipe is EASY! (2024)

FAQs

How to make a mull? ›

The dish consists of finely shredded chicken in a rich broth often thickened by crushed crackers and sometimes milk or cream. Butter and a few other simple seasonings add flavor, and hot sauce, coleslaw, and saltines are common accompaniments.

What is chicken mole mull? ›

Chicken mull is a traditional dish from North Carolina, upstate South Carolina and Georgia. It is a type of stew consisting of parboiled whole chicken in a cream- or milk-based broth, butter and seasoned with salt, pepper and other ingredients.

What is a chicken mull festival? ›

Likely born from cooks simply using what they had, Chicken Mull has become a comfort food that spans generations. It is the goal of the Chicken Mull Festival to introduce the town of Bear Grass and this southern specialty to more people.

What is the origin of chicken mull? ›

South Carolina

Farmers replaced bass with chicken, threw a Southern drawl on “muddle,” and made a rich poultry stew inspired by its fishy predecessor. To this day, it's known as “chicken mull.” A century ago, the slow-cooked bird in an iron pot was common at outdoor social gatherings across the Deep South.

What does Mull mean in cooking terms? ›

: to heat, sweeten, and flavor (a beverage, such as wine or cider) with spices.

What is Mull made of? ›

The dish known in northeast Georgia as chicken mull is a stew of chicken meat (ground or cut into bite-sized or smaller pieces), broth, milk, butter, vegetables, and seasonings, thickened with crumbs of soda crackers. It is also called chicken stew, chicken soup (rarely), and in south Georgia, chicken jallop.

Is chicken mole good for you? ›

Not only does it demonstrate the uniqueness of Mexican food, but it also provides plenty of health benefits. Overall, most mole recipes provide a good amount of fiber, antioxidants, and healthy fats, thanks to the chiles, nuts, and seeds.

Is chicken mole supposed to be sweet? ›

It's rich, warm, and well-balanced, with a variety of chiles adding layers of heat, fruitiness, sweetness, and smokiness.

Can chicken mull be frozen? ›

The rice will absorb broth as it's stored, so you may need to add a little more chicken broth or water when you reheat it. If you're making the soup ahead of time, you can cook it without the rice and add it when you're reheating the soup. Freeze the soup in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.

What is chicken carnival? ›

Chicken Carnival a family owned American food restaurant located in North Merrick, New York. New York has an amazing food scene, from fine-dining restaurants to mom-and-pop stores that can fill your stomachs.

When was the first chicken festival? ›

The Chicken Festival began in 1990 to celebrate the life of Harland Sanders. The Chicken Festival features many events centered around chicken and KFC such as an egg drop, Colonel Sanders look-a-like contest, and a “Run for the Roost” 5K. No festival was planned in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

What is chicken fiesta? ›

Fiesta Chicken is a Tex-Mex chicken dish that combines a combination of chicken, rice, tomatoes, beans, and often corn.

What is the difference between chicken muddle and Brunswick stew? ›

Muddle is thicker and spicier than Virginia style Brunswick Stew. Unlike Georgia style Brunswick Stew, muddle is flavored with bacon rather than barbecue sauce. I have had Brunswick stew before, but this was amazing. The bbq was really good, but I have had really good bbq before.

Where did drunk chicken come from? ›

It's also rare to come across an iconic Chinese dish without an elaborate origin story. Canonically, all we can say is that Drunken Chicken was invented in Shaoxing, which has been producing arguably the best huangjiu in China for at least 3,000 years (more on that later).

Where is drunken chicken from? ›

Drunken chicken is a common item in Chinese cuisine. It originated in the Zhejiang province of eastern China. The chicken is marinated in and then cooked in Shaoxing wine. Another version involves steaming the meat and then marinating overnight in the refrigerator.

How do you Mull something? ›

to think carefully about something for a long time: I need a few days to mull things over before I decide if I'm taking the job. considerDon't make any decisions before you've considered the matter.

What is the process of mulling? ›

However, the process of mulling—adding sugar, spices and fruit to a heated drink—is one of the oldest co*cktail techniques in the world.

What is a standard Mull? ›

Standard Mull is one in which the frames are joined tightly together with no reinforcement or space between. Mull Reinforcement or MRF are vertical or horizontal mulls that have aluminum reinforcement members attached to them and are clipped and fastened together making the mull 3/8" wide.

How was Mull formed? ›

The bedrock of the larger part of the island is formed by basalt lava flows ascribed to the Mull Lava Group erupted onto a succession of Mesozoic sedimentary rocks during the Palaeocene epoch. Precambrian and Palaeozoic rocks occur at the island's margins.

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