Shaoxing Rice Wine
What it is
An amber-brown Chinese fermented rice wine from Shaoxing in Zhejiang province, used both as a prized drinking wine and as the default cooking wine of Chinese cuisine.
How it's made
Glutinous rice and wheat are fermented with a wheat-based starter (qu) and the region's water, then aged in earthenware — sometimes for years (the finest is hua diao, "carved flower," aged and sold in decorated jars). Aging develops a sherry-like complexity.
Flavor profile
Nutty, mellow, and savory with a sherry-like, slightly sweet depth and a warming aroma. Cooking grades can taste sharper or saltier.
Culinary uses
The workhorse cooking wine of Chinese kitchens: splashed into stir-fries to deglaze and perfume (the "wok hei" aromatic lift), used in marinades to tenderize and remove gaminess, simmered into red-cooked (hongshao) braises, and central to "drunken" dishes (drunken chicken, drunken crab). Its job is to add fragrance and umami and to cut richness — water or generic rice wine leaves dishes flat and "raw"-tasting.
Regional variations
Drinking grade (hua diao, aged, unsalted, finer) vs. cooking grade (often salted to make it non-potable and cheaper, which is why salt-added "Shaoxing cooking wine" should be accounted for when seasoning). Cooks who care use a decent drinking grade for better flavor.
Cultural & historical context
Shaoxing wine has over two millennia of history and deep ceremonial roots — the "daughter's wine" (nü'er hong) tradition buried jars at a daughter's birth to be unearthed at her wedding. It is to Chinese cooking what wine is to French.
Reference notes
- Tags: fermented, rice-wine, Chinese, cooking-wine, deglazing, umami
- Related ingredients: sake, mirin, soy sauce, black vinegar
- Related cuisines: Chinese
- Suggested Cuisinopedia links: Hongshao, Drunken Chicken, Wok Hei