The market · Seasonings and ferments · East Asia

Shaoxing wine

Chinese amber rice wine from Shaoxing, nutty and sherry-like — the splash in countless stir-fries and braises.

nutty · winey · sherry-like

What to do with it

Classics built on it
HunanChairman Mao's red-braised porkCubes of pork belly braised slowly with caramelised sugar, Shaoxing wine, chilli and spices until glossy, deep red and meltingly soft.No one here has made it yetHunanSteamed fish head with chopped chilliesA large fish head split open, heaped with red salted chillies and steamed, then finished with spring onion and sizzling oil.No one here has made it yetHunanHunan stir-fried beefThin slices of beef stir-fried in moments with a heap of fresh chillies, garlic, ginger and coriander stems — tender, fragrant and very hot.No one here has made it yetHunanSteamed trio of cured meatsSlices of smoked pork, cured chicken and cured fish packed together in a bowl with fermented black beans and chilli, and steamed until their fats and flavours mingle.No one here has made it yetShandongDezhou braised chickenA whole chicken, legs tucked in, glazed and fried golden, then braised for hours in a spiced soy stock until the meat falls from the bone.No one here has made it yetShandongNine-turn intestinesShort lengths of pork intestine, cleaned, blanched, fried and then braised down in sugar, vinegar and soy until glossy — sweet, sour, salty, peppery and faintly bitter at once.No one here has made it yetShandongScallion-braised sea cucumberSoaked dried sea cucumber braised in stock and soy with spring onions fried slowly to gold, until it's soft, glossy and full of scallion.No one here has made it yetShandongQingdao spicy stir-fried clamsSmall clams thrown into a hot wok with dried chillies, garlic and ginger, splashed with soy and wine, and eaten the moment they open — with a glass of beer.No one here has made it yetHuaiyangLion's head meatballsLarge, soft pork meatballs, gently stewed in stock over Chinese leaf until they're tender enough to eat with a spoon.No one here has made it yetHuaiyangYangzhou fried riceDay-old rice fried with egg, prawns, ham, peas and spring onion — each grain separate and coated.No one here has made it yetHuaiyangSquirrel-shaped mandarin fishA whole mandarin fish, boned, scored deep and fried so the flesh fans out in spikes, then covered in a bright sweet-and-sour sauce.No one here has made it yetHuaiyangNanjing salted duckA whole duck, dry-salted with Sichuan pepper, brined, then poached very gently and served cold in slices — pale, juicy and delicately salty.No one here has made it yetHuaiyangDazhu gansiPressed tofu shaved into hair-fine threads, simmered in a rich chicken stock with shreds of ham, chicken, bamboo shoot and prawns.No one here has made it yetHuaiyangWuxi spare ribsPork ribs braised slowly in soy, rice wine and plenty of sugar until they're falling-tender and coated in a dark, sticky, sweet glaze.No one here has made it yetHuaiyangCrystal pork terrineSalted pork hock, simmered, pressed and set in its own clear jelly, then sliced cold and eaten with shredded ginger and Zhenjiang black vinegar.No one here has made it yetShanghaineseXiaolongbaoSmall, thin-skinned steamed buns of minced pork, pleated at the top and full of hot soup, served in the bamboo basket they cooked in.No one here has made it yetShanghaineseRed-braised porkCubes of pork belly braised in Shaoxing wine, dark soy and rock sugar until the sauce reduces to a sticky, mahogany glaze.No one here has made it yetShanghaineseShengjian baoSmall risen pork buns fried in a wide, shallow pan, steamed under a lid, so their bottoms go crisp and golden while the tops stay soft.No one here has made it yetShanghaineseShanghai drunken chickenChicken poached until only just cooked, chilled, and steeped in Shaoxing wine or wine lees, then served cold as a starter.No one here has made it yetShanghaineseHairy crabFreshwater mitten crabs, steamed whole in autumn and picked apart at the table for their sweet meat and rich golden roe, with ginger and black vinegar.No one here has made it yetShanghaineseShanghai smoked fishThick slices of carp, marinated, fried until crisp, then plunged into a sweet, spiced soy syrup and served cold — 'smoked' in name only.No one here has made it yetZhejiangDongpo porkThick squares of pork belly, tied with string and braised slowly in Shaoxing wine, soy and sugar until the fat trembles.No one here has made it yetZhejiangWest Lake fish in vinegar sauceA whole grass carp, poached briefly and then bathed in a glossy, sweet-sour sauce of black vinegar, sugar and ginger.No one here has made it yetZhejiangLongjing shrimpSmall peeled river shrimp, quick-fried pale and tender, then tossed with the fresh leaves of Longjing green tea.No one here has made it yetZhejiangBeggar's chickenA whole stuffed chicken wrapped in lotus leaves, sealed in clay or dough, and baked for hours until it falls from the bone.No one here has made it yetZhejiangShaoxing drunken chickenChicken poached gently, chilled, then steeped for a day or more in Shaoxing wine and served cold in pieces, skin smooth and pale.No one here has made it yetZhejiangHoney-glazed Jinhua hamA square of Jinhua ham, steamed several times with rock sugar and wine until tender and sweet, then glazed with honey and served with lotus seeds.No one here has made it yetFujianBuddha jumps over the wallA banquet soup of abalone, sea cucumber, fish maw, scallops, meats and mushrooms, sealed in a jar with rice wine and simmered for hours.No one here has made it yetFujianRed wine lees chickenChicken braised with red wine lees, ginger and rice wine until it turns a deep rosy red — sweet, winey and warming.No one here has made it yetAnhuiStinky mandarin fishA whole mandarin fish, lightly salted and left for days until it smells, then fried and braised with pork, bamboo shoots and chilli.No one here has made it yetAnhuiHuangshan braised pigeonPigeon stewed slowly in a clay pot with Chinese yam, ham and ginger until the meat is soft and the broth clear and rich.No one here has made it yetAnhuiHuizhou one-potA deep iron pot layered with bamboo shoots, pork, fried tofu, egg dumplings and greens, simmered slowly and brought to the table whole.No one here has made it yetAnhuiLi Hongzhang hotchpotchA banquet mix of sea cucumber, fish maw, squid, ham, chicken, tofu and mushroom, simmered together in a good stock.No one here has made it yetAnhuiWuwei smoked duckA whole duck, salted and spiced, smoked until bronze and then simmered, so it's smoky, savoury and tender.No one here has made it yetBeijingPeking duckA whole duck, its skin dried and glazed, roasted until it shatters, then carved at the table and wrapped in thin pancakes with sweet bean sauce, spring onion and cucumber.No one here has made it yetBeijingJiaoziCrescent dumplings of thin wheat dough around pork and chives or cabbage, boiled and dipped in black vinegar with garlic.No one here has made it yetYunnanSteam-pot chickenChicken cooked in a clay pot with a chimney at its centre, set over boiling water, so the steam gathers into a pure, clear broth.No one here has made it yetYunnanXuanwei hamA whole leg of pork salted in winter and hung to cure in the cool mountain air for a year or more, eaten steamed, sliced, or cooked into soups, stir-fries and mooncakes.No one here has made it yetSichuanChongqing chicken with chilliesSmall pieces of chicken fried crisp, then tossed in the wok with a heap of dried chillies and Sichuan pepper — you hunt for the chicken.No one here has made it yet

Kinds

Drinking grade
Aged, unsalted — better for cooking too.
Cooking wine
Salted; cut back on salt elsewhere.

If you can't find it

Chinese grocers. Avoid the cooking wine with added salt if you can.

  1. 1Fino sherry
    The same
    You lose very little — dry sherry is the classic swap.

Goes with

gingerspring onionsoy saucepork belly

Knowing it

Where to buy
Chinese grocers. Dry sherry is the usual swap.
Worth knowing
Splash it round the hot edge of the wok, not into the middle.

Kitchens that keep it in

Guangdong and Hong Kong, southern ChinaCantoneseThe cooking of Guangzhou and Hong Kong: very fresh things cooked briefly and seasoned lightly, so they taste of themselves.11 classicsJiangsu province and the lower Yangtze, eastern ChinaHuaiyangDelicate and exact: fine knife work, clear stocks and a gentle sweetness, cooked to bring out an ingredient's own flavour rather than to cover it.7 classicsShanghai, on the Yangtze delta, eastern ChinaShanghaineseSweet, dark and glossy: a port city's home cooking, red-braised in soy, sugar and Shaoxing wine, with soup dumplings, cold 'drunken' dishes and hairy crab in autumn.7 classicsZhejiang province, eastern ChinaZhejiangFresh, mellow and gently sweet: lake fish and river shrimp, young bamboo, cured ham and a good deal of Shaoxing wine, cooked to taste of themselves.7 classicsFujian province, south-eastern ChinaFujianThe cooking of China's south-eastern coast: clear soups, seafood, the sweet-sour red of fermented rice lees, and the street food the Hokkien carried across Asia.9 classicsAnhui province, eastern ChinaAnhuiMountain cooking from old Huizhou: bamboo shoots, mushrooms and cured things, braised long and dark, with a taste for the fermented — stinky fish and hairy tofu.8 classicsBeijing and the northern plain, northern ChinaBeijingA wheat-and-mutton kitchen of the dry north, salty and savoury with fermented bean pastes, where palace banquets and street snacks grew up side by side.8 classicsSichuan province, south-western ChinaSichuanBold and layered: the numbing tingle of Sichuan pepper with the heat of chilli — málà — alongside some two dozen named flavour combinations.11 classics

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