Chicken in rice wine (雞酒)
Chicken browned with ginger in sesame oil, then simmered in glutinous rice wine — with a lighter, lower-alcohol version for breastfeeding mothers.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 1 hr
- Serves
- 4
Method
- 1
Soak the wood ear in warm water for 20 minutes, then trim off any hard bits and tear it into pieces.
- 2
Fry the ginger. Heat the sesame oil in a wok or heavy pot over a low heat — sesame oil burns easily and turns bitter — and fry the ginger slowly for 5 to 8 minutes, until the edges curl and it smells fragrant.
- 3
Brown the chicken. Turn the heat up to medium, add the chicken and fry for about 5 minutes, turning, until lightly browned.
- 4
Simmer. Pour in the rice wine and water, add the wood ear and red dates and bring to the boil. Simmer with the lid off for at least 45 minutes, adding a splash of water if it gets too dry.
- 5
Check it's cooked. The chicken should be steaming hot all the way through, with no pink meat and clear juices. Season with a little salt and serve with rice.
About this dish
雞酒 is the other confinement classic: rich, fragrant and warming. Cantonese, Hakka, Fujianese and Taiwanese families each have their own version — Taiwan's 麻油雞 uses black sesame oil and a lot more wine.
Making it lighter
This recipe already uses less wine than many traditional versions, which are often made with wine and no water at all. If you're breastfeeding, you can go further:
- use less wine, and let it simmer longer with the lid off;
- have 雞酒 as an occasional dish rather than every day, ideally just after a feed rather than just before one.
Tips
- Black sesame oil (黑麻油) gives the deeper Taiwanese flavour; ordinary toasted sesame oil works too.
- Chop through the bone (or ask the butcher to) so the chicken cooks evenly and flavours the sauce.
- Leftovers: divide into smaller containers so they cool quickly, get them into the fridge within 1 to 2 hours, eat within 48 hours, and reheat once, until steaming hot.
Sources
About these recipes
- These are traditional home recipes, shared for cultural interest. They are not medical or nutritional advice, and we don’t claim any dish treats, prevents or cures anything.
- If you have allergies, gestational diabetes or a special diet, or take any medicines or herbal remedies, check with your midwife, health visitor, GP or pharmacist before changing what you eat.
- Follow UK food-safety advice: cook meat, fish and eggs thoroughly; cool leftovers and get them into the fridge within 1 to 2 hours; eat them within 2 days; and reheat only once, until steaming hot.
- Some recipes contain alcohol, and cooking doesn’t remove all of it. If you’re breastfeeding, read our guide to ginger vinegar and chicken in rice wine first.
Experienced carers cook dishes like these every day of the confinement month, and adjust them to how you’re feeling.
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