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Shaoxing Huadiao Rice Wine for Cooking
$15
A Superior Chinese Cooking Wine
Liaojiu, or cooking wine, is an everyday, indispensable ingredient in Chinese cuisines, used in almost all dishes with meat or fish as a marinade and/or sauce component. Shaoxing Huadiao Rice Cooking Wine is considered the best liaojiu in the supermarket.
The city of Shaoxing has been making wine for millennia in eastern China's Zhejiang province, and its huangjiu, or yellow wine, is considered the pinnacle of the country's traditional winemaking. It's a rich but mellow, slightly sweet and nutty wine for drinking that also pairs exceptionally well with China's other frequently used sauces, particularly soy sauce, for cooking.
Guyue Longshan is one of the oldest and largest makers of Shaoxing wine and has multiple categories and brands. Huadiao jiu is the designation for the finest medium-dry Shaoxing wine, which was traditionally aged in earthenware crocks with etched decoration called huadiao.
Shaoxing wine is made from glutinous rice and includes wheat, because almost all fermented Chinese sauces are brewed with a wheat-based starter in a process called qu fermentation.
Note that this particular huadiao wine is made specifically for cooking and has added salt so that it can be sold in U.S. grocery stores (and online). The wine is 16% alcohol and includes 1.5% salt. It also has caramel for color, but no additional spices, ethanol or additives, as lesser liaojiu brands often have.
Heritage Process
Huangjiu refers to all grain-fermented wines and is the oldest type of alcoholic beverage in China, made for at least 2,500 years. To receive the Geographic Indication of Shaoxing wine, the wine must meet numerous qualifications, including those for premium polished glutinous rice, water from the protected areas of Jianhu Lake and high-quality wheat as the starter (jiuqu). The processes include steaming, adding jiuqu, saccharification, fermentation, pressing, filtering, pasteurization, aging and blending.
Interestingly, in ancient times the process produced a yellow wine, as the name connotes, whereas the modern production process of Shaoxing wine necessitates the addition of a natural caramel as a coloring agent. And finally, the strict alcohol-sales laws in the U.S. require the addition of salt before it can be sold anywhere other than liquor stores and very large grocers with liquor licenses.
History + Honors
According to historical records, the winemaking industry in Shaoxing was already widespread during the Spring and Autumn Period (c. 770–476 BCE) and Warring States periods. By the Northern and Southern Dynasties period (420–589 AD), Shaoxing huangjiu had become a tribute item paid to the emperors.
Shaoxing wine has protected Geographic Indication. Guyue Longshan, which is made by the Zhejiang Guyue Longshan Shaoxing Wine Co., is an official China Famous Brand.
Compare To
Unsalted Shaoxing wine is nice to have for recipes where the wine plays a central role in the flavor of a dish (such as drunken chicken), but even then, cooking wine may be used with little ultimate effect on the flavor for dishes that are also salted and cooked. The most important aspect for dishes with prominent Shaoxing wine in the recipe is that the cooking wine base be high-quality real yellow wine such as Guyue Longshan, not generic rice wine (mijiu) plus spices.
In China, cooking wine’s main function in most dishes is to dispel the gamey, fishy or funky aspects of raw meats and fish. If you want to drink Shaoxing wine, do look for the oldest and best one you can find, but if you are cooking with it, don’t sweat the salt!
How To Use It
Shaoxing wine has a deep amber color and a slightly sweet, nutty flavor. It is used in Chinese cooking for that flavor, where it adds depth and complexity to dishes, but just as importantly as a method to deodorize meat and seafood by evaporating those odors.
Braising: Shaoxing wine brings an irreplaceable flavor to the braising liquid for dishes both classic and everyday, whether as the main flavor or a supporting note
Marinating: Shaoxing wine is commonly used to marinate meats. It helps tenderize the meat, infuse flavors and remove any unpleasant odors. Combine the wine with fresh ginger and scallion and let the meat marinate for at least 15-30 minutes before cooking.
Blanching: If you cook a lot of Chinese or Asian meat recipes, you may notice there’s often a pre-cooking blanching step. This step helps deodorize the meat and clean away blood foam, which is especially important in making clear, flavorful soups. Blanch meats starting from cold water with a fresh splash of Shaoxing wine, ginger and scallion.
Stir-frying: Add a splash of Shaoxing wine toward the end of cooking to enhance the flavors.
Deglazing: Use Shaoxing wine to deglaze the pan after searing meats or cooking aromatics. The wine helps to release the browned bits and adds flavor to the resulting sauce.
Storage
Store Shaoxing wine in a cool, dark place away from direct sunlight and heat sources.
Our taste tests show that how recently the bottle was opened and how it is stored do have an effect on its flavor, so we advise refrigeration of open bottles.
