Shaoxing Goji Chicken (花雕杞子雞煲)

Traditionally, this Shaoxing Goji Chicken is a claypot dish made in winter days. I reckon this dish can be enjoyed on any days throughout the year. It’s so tasty with splendid aroma, perfectly goes with steamed rice.

I like the colour contrast of this chicken dish. It’s so appealing to the family’s eyes. Once it’s served on our dining table, everyone was eager to dig in and taste.

If your family is not too quite into the shaoxing wine aroma, or you have kids or seniors, you might skip the wine part as it won’t comprise the taste of the whole dish at all.

Yet, I highly recommend you to follow the traditional cooking way and add the wine because it will make the whole dish smell so good.

To make this dish, it’s best to use chicken parts with bones, like chicken legs or chicken thighs with bones. Simply use a very sharp cleaver to chop them into large chunks, so that they are easily cooked through.

Beware of the bones if you have young kids though. Marinade the chicken pieces beforehand.

While cooking, the marinated chicken pieces are braised with shaoxing wine in the first stage. The alcohol will be gone because of the heat, leaving a mild sweetness behind.

Once the chicken is cooked through, you might like to sprinkle more of shaoxing wine just before serving onto your dining table. When you open the pot lid, the wine aroma will escape and do the trick of attracting your guests’ appetite. That’s the highlight of this shaoxing chicken dish.

Personally, I like to top this dish up with some goji berries adding more nutrients and a contrast in colour.

You won’t know how tasty the goji berries are before you taste them. They absorb all the goodies in the sauce.

Speaking about the sauce, my family didn’t want to miss any bit of it since the sauce taste heavenly delicious. I tried to drain out every single goji berry and didn’t want to miss any one of them.

Shaoxing Goji Chicken Recipe

(Printable recipe)
By Christine’s Recipes
Course: Chicken
Cuisine: Chinese
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 30 mins
Yield: 2 to 3 serves

Ingredients:

• 2 (about 690 gm) chicken legs
• 5 to 6 cloves garlic, sliced
• 6 to 8 slices ginger
• 2 Tbsp Shaoxing wine (Hua Diao wine) + 1 Tbsp wine (optional, sprinkle when served)
• ¼ cup water
• 25 gm rock sugar (冰糖), roughly chopped
• 1 spring onion, julienned
• 1 red chilli, optional, chopped
• 2 Tbsp (about 20 gm) goji

Marinade:

• 3 tsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tsp oyster sauce
• 2 tsp sesame oil

Method:

1. Rinse the chicken legs. Wipe dry with kitchen papers. Cut into 2 to 3 pieces. Mix with marinade well. Set aside for 30 minutes. Rinse goji and soak in water for 5 minutes. Drain well. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Saute garlic and ginger. Add in chicken pieces. Stir fry and cook until the surface colour changes. Pour in water. Add rock sugar. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of Shaoxing wine (Hua Diao wine). Cover and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and sauce is reduced by half and thickened. Add spring onion, red chilli and goji. Stir to combine. Stir in 1 tablespoon of wine before serving if you like more wine aroma. Serve hot.

Notes：

• You can use half of a chicken instead.
• The chicken will release some water while cooking. So don’t add too much water at the first stage. You might add in some water later if necessary.
• The power of every stove is not the same. Please adjust the cooking time accordingly.
• Don’t over cook the Goji. The residual heat in the wok or pot is good enough to cook through the goji.