A clear-soup banquet classic of Zhejiang cuisine and a signature of Shaoxing, often ranked the 'queen of Shaoxing dishes.' A whole young hen of the local Yue breed (越鸡, the Xiaoshan chicken) is blanched, then double-boiled in a covered vessel with Jinhua ham, winter bamboo shoots and mushrooms until the broth is crystal-clear, amber and deeply savory; it is seasoned only with salt and never thickened.
The dish is built on the Yue chicken (越鸡), a recognized local breed of the Shaoxing–Xiaoshan area also known as the Xiaoshan chicken, a dual-purpose (meat-and-egg) fowl now listed among China's protected livestock genetic resources. Its name traces to Shaoxing's identity as the capital of the ancient state of Yue (越国), whose seat was at Kuaiji (today's Shaoxing); by tradition the breed descends from native fowl selected into the palace of the king of Yue in the Spring and Autumn period as ornamental birds and later passed to the people, giving it a breeding history of over two thousand years. No firm invention date survives for the dish itself; it is documented as a Shaoxing clear-soup specialty and the foremost of the city's named banquet dishes, with later folklore attaching a Qianlong-era tale to its fame.
The broth pours clear and faintly amber, with no film of fat or cloudiness — fragrant with chicken and the gentle salt-savor of ham. The hen is tender enough to slip from the bone yet still holds its shape, the skin thin and the flesh silky rather than stringy. Winter bamboo shoots add a crisp sweetness, mushrooms a woodsy depth, and the ham a quiet cured fragrance running under the whole bowl.
Clarity is the whole point, and it comes from gentle, indirect heat. The chicken is first blanched to drive out blood and scum that would otherwise cloud the soup. It is then double-boiled (隔水炖) — set in a covered vessel over steam rather than on direct flame — so the liquid stays at a bare quiver and never reaches a rolling boil. That matters physically: a hard boil shears the rendered fat into tiny droplets that soluble protein then coats and suspends, scattering light into the opaque milky 'white soup'; held just below that, the fat instead floats off and the broth stays transparent. Flavor builds by umami synergy: glutamate from the chicken and ham meets the nucleotides inosinate (from the ham and meat) and guanylate (from the dried mushrooms), and the mix tastes far more savory than the sum of its parts, so salt alone finishes the bowl.
Variations
The vessel and heat vary: a sealed lidded crock double-boiled over water gives the clearest result, while some cooks steam the covered bowl over rising steam instead. The aromatics are flexible — Jinhua ham, winter bamboo shoots and soaked shiitake or button mushrooms are classic, with scallion, ginger and Shaoxing wine to perfume it; plainer versions rely on the chicken alone. Where a true Yue chicken is unavailable, a 'three-yellow' (三黄) hen is the usual stand-in. Within Shaoxing's chicken repertoire the dish sits beside the wine-cured 'drunken chicken' (醉鸡) and the steamed salt-fish-and-chicken 白鲞扣鸡, but unlike those it is defined by its clear, unseasoned-but-for-salt broth.
On the Palate
Where Clear-Broth Shaoxing Chicken sits in the Chinese flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6
How it's made
7 steps · 30 min
- 110 min
Choose a whole young Yue hen of about 1.25 kilograms; clean it inside and out and trim off the rump.
- 28 min
Blanch the whole bird in boiling water until the surface tightens and the scum rises, then lift it out and rinse off any blood and froth under cold water.
Watch outBlanch until the skin tightens and the scum rises, then rinse it all off — leaving that blood and froth is what clouds the finished soup.
- 38 min
Set the chicken breast-up in a deep crock or steam bowl; tuck in sliced Jinhua ham, soaked mushrooms and winter bamboo shoots, and add scallion knots, ginger and Shaoxing wine.
- 43 min
Pour in enough clear water or light stock to just cover the bird, and cover the vessel with a tight lid.
- 5150 min
Stand the covered crock in a steamer or in a larger pot of water and double-boil over gentle heat for about 2.5 hours, keeping the broth at a bare simmer so it never rolls.
Watch outDouble-boil over gentle heat and keep the broth at a bare quiver, never a rolling boil — a hard boil shears the fat into the liquid and turns the soup milky instead of clear.
- 66 min
Lift the lid, skim off any surface fat, discard the scallion and ginger, and season with salt only; if needed, briefly steam a few minutes more to marry the seasoning.
- 72 min
Serve the whole chicken in its clear broth in the cooking crock, with the ham, shoots and mushrooms arranged around it.
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