Xiaoxing wine recommendations

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tostadas

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I've always just used the plain clear rice wine for my Chinese food. I see Xiaoxing wine in many recipes and have been wanting to try it. You guys out there have any recommendations of which one to get of what to look for?
 
I will use almost any brand for everyday use, but for something really wine forward like drunken chicken, the marginally more expensive Pagoda Shaoxing is a little better. There are many brands with Pagoda logos, look for Zhejiang on the label.

I definitely still keep clear mijiu around for vegetables, seafood, and Taiwanese food though.
 
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I think for home cooking, clear rice wine is more common. Shaoxing is better for restaurant style dishes.
 
In New Zealand I can't seem to find any without salt added, so I use Madeira instead, seems to work pretty well. I keep an open bottle of 'rainwater' Madeira around just for cooking, but for an upgrade have used the 20 year old stuff (e.g. H&H Malvasia 20yo) and it's as delicious in Chinese food as it is to drink.
 
Beerzebub said:
In New Zealand I can't seem to find any without salt added, so I use Madeira instead, seems to work pretty well.
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Madeira not too sweet?

The only Chinese cooking wine I've found here so far has added salt, so it can be sold in normal shops instead of bottle shops. (Queensland's licensing laws are still stuck in the century before the previous one…) That wine is bone dry, with no hint of sweetness (but plenty salty).

I guess I should make an effort to find the real thing, even if it costs an arm and a leg.
 
As a general rule, minimum 5 years aged for me. And I like to go 8-10 years aged. More expensive but makes a world of difference especially if your you’re making ‘drunken’ dishes.
 
I found a good one from Taiwan before. burned thru it. can't find it in my more frequent shops. I'll grab a bottle of the Taiwan stuff next time I am in Clement St Chinatown.

true story. I was going thru the bottles. the checkout line ran right down the aisle of cooking wines. I was looking at a bottle, and I see a Chinese lady staring at me. she nods at a bottle near herself. I grab one, she shakes her head subtly , I touch the next bottle over, and she (just barely) smiles at me and turns away. her job was done.

I was too dumb to note the name on the bottle before I blasted thru it honing my steamed chicken dish game. Boo on me. I'll find it again. not a lot of Taiwan versions out there.

EDIT. I think it is the Summit Brand!! heading to SF next Wed..I'll stop and look.
 
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parbaked said:
It's in the liquor aisle instead of the condiment aisle...
If it's sold next to the soy sauce and vinegar, it's cooking wine, salt added and not for drinking.
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I thought the added salt was a USA thing to avoid having it be taxed as liquor?

I meant: By Shaoxing'ish (or other relevant Chinese) standards, what defines a huangjiu/wongzau as being drinking-grade?
 
boomchakabowwow said:
EDIT. I think it is the Summit Brand!! heading to SF next Wed..I'll stop and look.
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Is Summit Brand the same as Oriental Mascot? I have bought SSC International shao hsing in the past, which is the only Taiwan version I have tried - also very good.
 
Qapla' said:
I thought the added salt was a USA thing to avoid having it be taxed as liquor?

I meant: By Shaoxing'ish (or other relevant Chinese) standards, what defines a huangjiu/wongzau as being drinking-grade?
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just taste it? I usually buy the Taiwanese version and steer clear of the salt laced stuff, I recently bought a more 'upscale' version recently but struggled to notice a worthwhile difference.
 
Michi said:
Madeira not too sweet?

The only Chinese cooking wine I've found here so far has added salt, so it can be sold in normal shops instead of bottle shops. (Queensland's licensing laws are still stuck in the century before the previous one…) That wine is bone dry, with no hint of sweetness (but plenty salty).

I guess I should make an effort to find the real thing, even if it costs an arm and a leg.
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The Madeira I normally use is labelled 'medium dry' and the slight sweetness doesn't seem like a problem, but yep probably something to consider. There are ones just labelled 'dry' too.
 
I find the aroma of shao sing quite different from madeira, of course if you are unable to get shao sing it'll work, a splash of dry sherry might also work. where I live a bottle of the Taiwanese stuff costs like 10 euro, where the chinese version is half that. As you usually only need a tablespoon or two it lasts long.

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I've been using drinking grade Shao Xing Rice Wine from Fubonn in Portland Oregon for a number of years. A cooking instructor I had in Chengdu couldn't believe anyone would use rice wine with unknown amounts of salt added in their cooking.
I might add drinking grade rice wine is hard to fine even in Asian grocery stores around here.
 
I have not taken a great deal of care about my selection of Shao Xing wine for cooking, except to avoid the "with salt" stuff that's used to get it on the shelf in places where supermarkets are not legally allowed to sell alcohol. The salt makes it acceptable, like how no laws care that there is alcohol in cocktail bitters.

What I generally buy has a red or gold label, sometimes blue with other colors. As long it's Shao Xing, it has been fine, and tastes pretty much the same to me.

I have not made "drunken" dishes, but if I did, I'd be tempted to try the 5 year, but no more. I think the 8 year would have too much character for the dish. I'm not even really sure that the 5 year would be better, but I do know that's my minimum for just drinking the stuff, though I prefer 8 year.

I once was lucky enough to get my hands on a bottle of 50 year, and I was very very impressed. I made the mistake of sharing it with my wine tasting group in a blind tasting, and they all thought it was awful, guessing it was the world's worst Madeira. I guess you have to work up to appreciating that line of flavor.
 
I can see how a 50 year Shao Xing easily is an acquired taste...initially when I started cooking Sichuan and Chinese food I could not see what it would add, now I'm starting to use it in 'western' dishes as layer.
 
Noodle Soup said:
I've been adding a small amount to my vegetable soups instead of sherry.
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There are plenty of Chinese cookbooks that recommend Fino sherry as a substitute, if you can't find Chinese rice wine. I had to resort to that once, in an emergency (I stupidly let my rice wine supplies run low), and I have to admit that the substitution kind of works, even though I don't really like Fino sherry or, really, any sherry that has not been drowned in sugar to mask its character, and I don't think Fino sherry really tastes like a close match for Shao Xing rice wine. But mostly it's one component in a marinade or sauce, so I guess it's like a musician who can be a perfect fill-in in a band, even though you don't like his playing on its own.
 
MarcelNL said:
I can see how a 50 year Shao Xing easily is an acquired taste...initially when I started cooking Sichuan and Chinese food I could not see what it would add, now I'm starting to use it in 'western' dishes as layer.
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You can already imagine what 50 year old Shao Xing tastes like. It's not like 50 year old Bordeaux, where it becomes something entirely different from the young wine, or even the 10-year-old wine. Just imagine the 5 year (the first age at which this particular character kicks in; I think most of the stuff in the market is 3 year), concentrated like Port would be, if you made a Port reduction, and you've pretty much got it.
 
Rangen said:
There are plenty of Chinese cookbooks that recommend Fino sherry as a substitute, if you can't find Chinese rice wine. I had to resort to that once, in an emergency (I stupidly let my rice wine supplies run low), and I have to admit that the substitution kind of works, even though I don't really like Fino sherry or, really, any sherry that has not been drowned in sugar to mask its character, and I don't think Fino sherry really tastes like a close match for Shao Xing rice wine. But mostly it's one component in a marinade or sauce, so I guess it's like a musician who can be a perfect fill-in in a band, even though you don't like his playing on its own.
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yeah sherry can work just fine, but like you I hate sherry (well.....the PX variety makes for a nice accompanying drink with desserts) so I do not keep it around.
 
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Rangen said:
You can already imagine what 50 year old Shao Xing tastes like. It's not like 50 year old Bordeaux, where it becomes something entirely different from the young wine, or even the 10-year-old wine. Just imagine the 5 year (the first age at which this particular character kicks in; I think most of the stuff in the market is 3 year), concentrated like Port would be, if you made a Port reduction, and you've pretty much got it.
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now where do I find it.....
 
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