🍗 Drunken chicken
Drunken chicken is a cold Chinese appetizer of chicken gently poached with ginger and scallion, then left to steep in Shaoxing rice wine until the meat absorbs its fragrant, slightly sweet aroma. It is served chilled in slices, with tender, juicy meat and a silky skin, finished with a few drops of sesame oil.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 chicken legs (about 1 kg)
- 30 g fresh ginger, sliced
- 3 scallions
- 350 ml Shaoxing wine
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- Water
Method
- Place the chicken in a pot with ginger, scallion and salt, cover with water and bring to a gentle simmer.
- Poach 20 minutes, then turn off the heat and leave covered for 10 minutes.
- Plunge the chicken into iced water to firm the skin.
- Mix the Shaoxing wine with 250 ml of the cooled cooking liquid, add the chicken and refrigerate 12–24 hours.
- Slice and serve cold, drizzled with sesame oil.
How to make it lighter
- Remove the skin before serving to cut most of the fat.
- Use chicken breast instead of legs for a leaner version.
- Keep the sesame oil to a few drops: 1 tsp ≈ 40 kcal.
History
Drunken chicken is associated with Zhejiang province and the city of Shaoxing, famous for its rice wine. 'Drunken' dishes, in which meat or seafood is marinated in wine, are a long tradition of eastern Chinese cooking, and drunken chicken is a classic of Shanghai and Zhejiang cold-dish platters.
Count it in one photo
Point your camera at the table — Me Nutrition recognises Drunken chicken and every other dish, with calories and macros for each. Ate only half? Slide it.
Download on the App StoreSimilar dishes
Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →