A Kinmen braised chicken in the island's famous sorghum liquor, with ginger, goji and Chinese herbs, the alcohol mostly cooked off into a warming, aromatic broth. A dish born of Kinmen's defining local product, the sorghum liquor called Kinmen Kaoliang.
Kinmen sorghum-liquor chicken is a dish born of Kinmen's defining product, Kinmen Kaoliang, the sorghum liquor that has been distilled on the island since 1952, when the Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor distillery was founded using sorghum grown on the island's fields and the clean underground water. The liquor, 58 percent alcohol, is the island's most famous product and a staple of Taiwanese drinking culture, and the chicken dish turns it into food. Chicken, cut into pieces, is stir-fried with ginger and sesame oil, then braised in a generous measure of Kinmen Kaoliung along with goji berries, dried red jujube, angelica and water, the long simmer cooking off most of the alcohol's harshness while keeping its warming fragrance and the herbal depth. The result is a warming, aromatic broth with tender chicken, the sorghum liquor's distinctive clean burn and the Chinese herbs giving a restorative, slightly medicinal quality. Eaten as a winter warming dish on Kinmen and in Taiwanese restaurants that feature Kinmen ingredients, the dish showcases the island's liquor in a culinary rather than a drinking form. The generous use of the liquor, expensive in mainland Taiwan but local on Kinmen, is the point.
Tender chicken in a clear, warming, aromatic broth, the sorghum liquor's clean burn on the throat, the goji and jujube adding gentle sweetness, the ginger and sesame oil warming. Deeply restorative, the taste of Kinmen's defining spirit cooked into food.
The dish is a braise built on the sorghum liquor and Chinese herbs. Chicken pieces are stir-fried first in sesame oil with plenty of sliced ginger, the sesame oil and ginger being the warming base of many Taiwanese medicinal dishes, the high heat sealing the chicken's surface. A generous measure of Kinmen Kaoliang, around 150ml, is splashed in and flamed or simply boiled, then water or chicken stock is added along with goji berries, dried red jujubes, slices of angelica root and a little rock sugar. The dish is simmered for 30 to 40 minutes, the long cook driving off most of the alcohol and its harshness while keeping the liquor's warming, clean fragrance and allowing the herbs to infuse, the broth becoming aromatic and slightly sweet. The chicken is tender, the broth warming, and the dish is eaten hot, often over rice or with noodles, the restorative quality central. The sorghum liquor, with its clean, slightly sweet character distinct from grain spirits, is the defining flavour, and the use of Chinese herbs, dang-gui for blood, jujube for sweetness, goji for the eyes, gives the medicinal quality prized in Taiwanese winter cooking.
Variations
A version with whole chicken legs is for sharing. Some add dong-quai for a stronger herbal note. The broth is sometimes finished with rice wine.
On the Palate
Where Kinmen Sorghum-Liquor Chicken sits in the Taiwanese flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4How it's made
5 steps · 20 min
- 16 min
Cut 1 chicken (about 1.2kg) into serving pieces; heat 3 tbsp sesame oil in a pot and stir-fry 100g sliced ginger and the chicken pieces until the skin colours.
Watch outStir-fry the chicken in the sesame oil and ginger until the skin colours — that sealed surface and toasted ginger are the warming base of the whole dish.
- 25 min
Splash in 150ml Kinmen Kaoliang liquor and let it boil, then add 1 litre water, 15g goji berries, 6 dried red jujubes, 5 slices angelica root and 20g rock sugar.
- 38 min
Bring to a boil, skim, then simmer covered for 35 to 40 minutes until the chicken is tender.
Watch outSimmer thirty-five-plus minutes to cook off most of the alcohol — cut it short and the raw liquor sharpness stays in the broth.
- 43 min
Season with a little salt; the broth should be aromatic and slightly sweet.
- 54 min
Ladle into bowls and serve hot with rice, the chicken and the warming broth together.
