American · Pennsylvania Dutch · main

Bot Boi (Chicken Pot Pie with Square Noodles)

Bot Boi (Chicken Pot Pie with Square Noodles) reads richness 4.7, allium 4.3 and umami 3.4 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a American · Pennsylvania Dutch main, about 2 hr 54 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

The measured notes (of 18)

Richness 4.7 · Allium 4.3 · Umami 3.4 · Salinity 3.4 · Herbaceous 2.8 · Sweetness 2.3 · Warm Spice 1.7 · Earthy 1.7 · Floral 1.5 · Bitterness 1.0 · Heat 1.0 · Sourness 0.7 · Citrus 0.6 · Nutty 0.5

What's in it (15)

Time & effort: about 2 hr 54 min (2 hr 19 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 111 kcal, 10 g protein, 5.4 g fat, 5.2 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains egg — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (8 steps)

  1. Settle the confusion first, because it is constant and it is the whole reason this record exists. Pennsylvania Dutch chicken pot pie — bot boi — has no crust. There is no pastry, no lid, nothing goes in an oven. It is a stew of chicken and potatoes in broth with large squares of rolled egg noodle dough boiled directly in it, and the noodle squares are called the pot pie. If someone hands you a pastry-topped chicken pie in Lancaster County they have made something else. The name is a survival of an older English sense of pie meaning a boiled dish in a pot.
  2. The other regional marker is saffron. Pennsylvania Dutch saffron has been grown in Lancaster County since the eighteenth century, when Schwenkfelder settlers brought corms from Germany, and it is used generously in bot boi, wedding soup and noodle dishes. It is what turns the broth deep yellow. It is not a garnish and it is not optional in the Lancaster version; several county growers still sell it.
  3. Put the hen, water, quartered onion, half the celery, bay and parsley sprigs in a large pot. Bring to a boil, skim, then simmer 1½ hours until the meat is tender — a stewing hen needs it; a young roasting chicken will fall apart in 45 minutes and give you a much thinner broth. Lift out the bird, pull the meat off in large pieces and set aside. Strain the broth and return it to the pot; you want about 2.5 litres.
  4. Make the dough while the hen cooks. Mound the flour on a board, make a well, and put in the eggs, the hot broth and the lard. Work it together and knead 5 minutes until smooth and quite stiff. Cover and rest 30 minutes.
  5. Roll the dough out as thin as you can, 2 mm, and cut it into rough 5 cm squares with a knife or a pastry wheel. Lay them on a floured cloth without touching. Do not make them small — the size is the point.
  6. Crumble the saffron into a small cup with 3 tablespoons of the hot broth and let it steep 5 minutes until the liquid is deep orange, then stir it into the pot.
  7. Bring the broth to a rolling boil. Add the diced onion, remaining celery and the sliced potatoes and cook 12 minutes.
  8. Drop the noodle squares in a few at a time so the boil never stops, and cook 12 minutes, until they are tender and the broth has thickened noticeably from the flour they shed — that thickening is what makes it a pot pie and not a soup. Return the chicken, season with the salt and pepper, and let it stand 5 minutes. Serve in wide bowls with the chopped parsley.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

Keep reading: what richness, allium, umami mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

See how this dish fits your palate — take the short taste test →

Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.