Drunken chicken is a way of preparing chicken using alcoholic beverages. There are many varieties of this dish in China, Greece and Latin America.
China
In Chinese cuisine there are many different ways of cooking drunken chicken.
- One nationally known and very popular version, Shaoxing, originated in the Zhejiang province of eastern China.[1] Shaoxing drunk chicken is cooked and marinated exclusively in historic Shaoxing wine to create a deep taste.[1]
- In another version of the dish, the whole chicken is first steamed then chopped up into pieces appropriately sized for picking up by chopsticks. The steamed meat, along with its juice, is cooked with scallions, ginger and salt. After the chicken is cooked it is marinated in Chinese liquor, sherry or a distilled liquor, like whiskey, overnight in the refrigerator. The chicken is served chilled, often as an appetizer. Besides the liquor-flavored meat, another feature of the dish is the liquor-flavored gelatin that results from the chilled mixture of the alcohol and the cooking juices.
- Typically in most traditional culinary methods for this dish, the chicken should have been fed grains and seeds that are soaked in rice wine. The type of wine varies accordingly to location and preference. The texture and flavour of the meat would be richer and deeper as opposed to solely cooking it in Chinese liquor. However this is seldom done in recent times as it entails a huge amount of cost for a marginal improvement in flavour
Greece
Μεθυσμένο κοτόπουλο (methisméno kotópoulo) - Drunken Chicken - is a dish found with many variations in taverna in Greece and Cyprus. Served as a meze or a main course, the basic recipe consists of chicken breasts, marinated in alcohol (usually ouzo), sautéed, then braised in the marinade.
Latin America
The Argentine, Chilean, and Mexican versions of this dish are called pollo borracho, and usually include green and black olives and cinnamon.
