Our Love for Drunken Chicken and Our Recipe with Rice Wine

Drunken Chicken, or 醉鸡 is a classic dish that likely has its roots in Shanghai. We say that because it's in every restaurant in Shanghai, and the locals' way to determine whether it's a good restaurant is through this dish. When we came back to Singapore, we very rarely see drunken chicken, maybe because you need good rice wine for this, and perhaps also because the idea of eating cold wine-marinated chicken might not be very familiar. But since we are deprived of it, we decided to use our rice wines and create our own recipe. 

We have the written recipe below, but if you want to see a video, you can check us out the recipe on Instagram here. 

Drunken Chicken Recipe

Recipe Cuisine: Chinese
Recipe Category: Chicken
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Method: Boiling and Chilling
Recipe Yield: 4-6 people
Suitable for Diet: N/A

Nutrition Information: [approximate per serving]

• Calories: 300 kcal
• Protein: 25g
• Fat: 15g
• Carbohydrates: 10g
• Sodium: 500mg

Ingredients For the Chicken:

• 1 whole chicken (about 1-1.2kg)
• 5 cups water
• 2 slices ginger
• 3 green onions (cut into 2-inch pieces)
• 2 tablespoons salt

Ingredients For the Marinade:

• 1 cup Hakka Yellow Rice Wine
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

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Instructions

A. Preparing the Chicken

Step 1: Clean the Chicken

• Clean and rinse the chicken thoroughly under cold water. Pat dry with paper towels.

Step 2: Blanch the Chicken

• In a large pot, bring 5 cups of water to a boil.
• Add ginger slices, green onions, and salt.
• Carefully lower the chicken into the boiling water.
• Blanch for about 5 minutes, then remove and rinse under cold water.

Step 3: Poach the Chicken

• Refill the pot with fresh water and bring to a boil.
• Lower the chicken into the pot and reduce heat to a simmer.
• Cover and poach for 20-25 minutes, make sure the chicken is fully cooked!

Step 4: Cool the Chicken

• Transfer the chicken to an ice bath to cool completely.

• Once cooled, chop the chicken into serving pieces and put into a glass container 

B. Marinating the Chicken

Step 1: Prepare the Marinade:

• In a large bowl, combine Hakka Yellow Rice Wine, chicken broth, soy sauce, sugar, and sesame oil.

• Stir until the sugar is fully dissolved.

Step 2: Marinate the Chicken:

• Pour the marinade over the chopped chicken pieces.

• Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight, to allow flavours to develop! 

Drunken Chicken is a flavourful, aromatic dish that’s simple to prepare yet impressive enough for any gathering. Whenever I bring this dish to parties, everyone asks me for the recipe, but really, the key is in the rice wine. With its tender, juicy meat and distinctive wine-infused taste, as well as easy to find staples, it’s sure to be a hit for dinner tonight.