Monday, March 28, 2011

Ginger Chicken with Homemade Wine


This is a Ginger Chicken with homemade rice wine that mostly consumed by a lady in confinement.  Chinese lady would be in a month of confinement when she gave birth to a baby.  During this month of confinement, she would be giving heaty food to eat.  Lots of ginger, sesame oil, homemade rice wine, red date tea, etc to help heal her body and to make her body strong.  I didn't get to eat the homemade rice wine while in both of my confinements but I did make sure I followed most of the traditional rules and ate lots of ginger and sesame oil.  You can say I am superstitious but I believed in natural Chinese medicine or tradition that passed down through generations.


After a bowl of this, you eat the ginger, wine stock and everything with the rice and you would be sweating afterward.  Wood-ear fungus is high in iron, protein, calcium, vitamins and said to prevent blood clotting and lower cholesterol.  The homemade glutinous rice wine has lots of benefits too.




Ingredients:

  • 2 skinless and boneless chicken breasts, thinly sliced
  • 1 rice bowl of shredded dried wood-ear fungus, soften it in warm water
  • 1 big piece of ginger, thinly sliced
  • Homemade rice wine, about 1 or 1 1/2 rice bowl
  • Chinese brown sugar to taste (omit this if your rice wine is sweet)
  • Soy sauce or salt to taste (soy sauce will give you dark stock, salt will give you a natural color)

Method:

1.  In a heated wok, add in some oil and a drop or two of sesame oil.  Add in ginger and stir fry until ginger is slightly brown and fragrant.  Add in chicken and stir-fry until chicken is almost cooked.

2.  Add in wood-ear fungus and stir fry until chicken is cooked.  Add in rice wine and let it boil.  When boiling, turn the heat to low and let it simmer for 10 minutes.  Season to taste with soy sauce and brown sugar (if used).  Serve!

19 comments:

Belinda @zomppa said...

A month?? Though I guess I wouldn't mind eating something like all month - looks so flavorful and soothing.. Impressed that it's homemade rice wine!

tigerfish said...

Not in confinement also can eat right? Already sounds so delicious - with ginger, sesame oil and homemade rice wine!

Unknown said...

hehehe sc's mom made me something like this after I gave birth...but the rice wine was not homemade :D

Noob Cook said...

I love anything cook in Chinese wine, ginger and sesame oil. Dunno why I like "confinement food" so much lol

Little Inbox said...

You know what? Last Saturday, suddenly I craved for sesame minced pork and egg with ginger, so I just cooked a big bowl for myself. Hehe...Of course, I didn't have home made wine, so I just add normal rice wine. :)

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

I miss my mom's ginger chicken, yours look so yummy.

Home Cooking said...

its also good in the winter, to keep our body warm :)

Min {Honest Vanilla} said...

Wonderful! So that's what the rice wine is for :) This looks really good and I'd eat it even on any ordinary days!

Awayofmind Bakery House said...

wow! This is a wonderful dish, I love the dish to go with homemade wine!

Alice said...

one of my fave dish! :)

daphne said...

when i was a kid, i asked granny abt why women in confinement get to eat such good food- did they just make this "rule" up so that confinement ladies have all the reason to enjoy soooo many meals of great stuff! How naive that was! LOL but as a cantonese and seeing my granny as a confinement lady, i think it is better to consume than not isnt it?

I love this dish and the gravy. Could hv this week after week with rice.. except it can be heaty!

pigpigscorner said...

Athough it's a confinement thing but I love this!

Lite Home Bake said...

Hi Little Corner,
This is the first time I am leaving a comment on your blog or it matters to you, it's also the the first among the many fabulous blogs out there too :) For one, this dish is truly delicious and secondly, it has a special place in my heart. It always reminds me and my family of our matriach who was so good at making it (plus the wine)who has left us. So, I was impressed when I read that you tried making the wine too! Thanks for sharing the recipe of the wine, at least i know where i can go to for reference when i have the courage to attempt making my own plus the recipe from my MIL which i am sure will be in the form of estimates :) Btw, i blogged about this in my humble blog (my experiences are by far nothing in comparison to yours), i only know how to make simple stuff :)
http://litehomebake.blogspot.com/2010/11/chinese-rice-wine-anyone.html

My Asian Kitchen said...

I like this kind of dish too,never get tired!! must eat with hot rice with plenty of gravy!!wow!! you make your own rice wine?? salut!

Little Corner of Mine said...

Thanks Belinda. Yes a month, but it's delicious food though just heaty.

Of course Tigerfish, anyone can eat, doesn't have to be in confinement. :D

Good for you Rita!

Hahaha Noobcook, because it's delicious and smell great!

Little Inbox, I didn't even use normal rice wine during my confinement, only DOM. :P

Thanks Sonia. Simple homecook food only. :)

I concur sweet and spicy! :)

Thanks Min. I also used it in everyday cooking.

Thanks Ah Tze.

Alice, me too!

Yes Daphne, it's best to follow the tradition.

Me too Pigpig.

litehomebake, now you can attempt your own rice wine too. If you follow that guide, your rice wine should turn out sweet. And if you want to age it, perhaps don't play with it so much like I did. Oops! :D

Yup AsianKitchen and thanks. :)

Crystal said...

I remember my dad tried to make brandy when I was younger. I don't know if it worked out or not, but he seemed pretty excited about it! I'm sure this sort of thing just takes practice. Luckily you were able to use your wine :)

Alison said...

LOL! I remember trying to make my own homemade rice wine some years ago. I don't have the formula anymore so cannot make that mistake again. Yours seems a bit different (from the little I can remember, and no, it's not a loss of memory due to the wine as I couldn't drink it). I'm going to re-read your formula and try again.
This soup looks fabulous, by the way. I think it would be very comforting. Thank you for posting!

Amelia said...

Yum, yum my favorite dish. I use homemade raisin wine to cook this dish. Stir fry kailan with the wine and ginger also very nice.

Top Chef Tour said...

Im loving the ginger toppings! Yay. Looks so delicious. I'll try this at home and will get back here and comment on how good is the result.