Hakka chicken stewed in yellow rice wine
The Hakka confinement classic: chicken fried with plenty of ginger in sesame oil, then simmered in yellow rice wine with red dates — fragrant, rich and warming to the core.
- 55 min
- Serves 3
- Simmer
- Easy
Why it suits you: Yang-deficient people feel the cold, with chilly hands, feet and lower back, and after Bailu the cooler mornings and evenings seem to go right to the bone. Yellow rice wine warms the vessels and dispels cold, plenty of ginger warms the stomach, and chicken warms the middle and boosts qi. A steaming pot of this warms you through for the evening.
Method
Prep 15 min · Cook 40 min- 1Pat the chicken dry. Stone the red dates. Scrub the ginger and slice it with the skin on.
- 2Heat the sesame oil in a wok and fry the ginger slowly over a medium-low heat until the edges curl; don't rush it over a high heat or it will burn.
- 3Turn the heat up to medium-high, add the chicken and fry until golden all over, then toss in the soy sauce.
- 4Pour in the wine and water, add the red dates and sugar, bring to the boil, then cover and simmer over a medium-low heat for 25 minutes.
- 5Add the goji berries and simmer for 5 minutes more, season with salt and serve with its broth and rice.
Cautions
- The alcohol doesn't cook off completely, so it's not for children, pregnant women, drivers or anyone avoiding alcohol; skip it with a dry mouth, sore throat or fever.
Chef's tips
- Fry the ginger slowly over a low heat until dry for the best fragrance — sesame oil turns bitter over a high heat; for a milder wine flavour, increase the water to 250 ml.
The TCM view
Yellow rice wine is sweet, bitter, pungent and warm, entering the heart and liver, freeing the vessels, dispelling cold and carrying the other ingredients' effects. Chicken is sweet and warm, warming the middle and boosting qi; mature ginger warms the middle and dispels cold; sesame oil is sweet and cool, moistening and softening the fierceness of the wine and ginger; red dates tonify the middle and nourish blood.
