2

What kind of shaoxing wine should I be looking to buy? My supermarket has shaohsing rice cooking wine which has salt added. After looking online, there seem to be people saying that the added salt is to get around selling it without the need for a liquor license and that it is similar to other cooking wines. I am also worried that the extra salt may ruin the recipes I find online.

Improve this question
8
  • If you are worried about salted wine ruining the seasoning, then it would seem the obvious answer is to buy one without any salt...
    – ElendilTheTall
    Nov 17, 2015 at 9:24
  • @ElendilTheTall : that's not so easy in some places. In Maryland, for instance, there are a limited number of liquor licenses, and most grocery stores don't have them. Therefore, asian and international grocery stores aren't allowed to sell anything except 'cooking wines' which are heavy salted to stop people from drinking them directly. I don't know of a single liquor store near me that sells shaoxing, sake or any other rice wine. I'd probably have to go to Virginia to get it. (although I've heard that the rules have been relaxed allowing you to mail-order wine)
    – Joe
    Nov 17, 2015 at 13:39
  • @Joe I would just order it online. It's 2015!
    – ElendilTheTall
    Nov 17, 2015 at 15:27
  • @ElendilTheTall : but then I have to be home to sign for it ... or go to UPS or FedEx or whatever when the delivery fails because an adult wasn't home. And I work at a government site, so no chance of delivering it to work (made that mistake once for electronics stuff)
    – Joe
    Nov 17, 2015 at 15:29
  • 1
    You could try something in this list: foodsubs.com/WinesRice.html Substitutes: sake (smoother and sweeter) OR sherry (dry)
    – Ming
    Nov 18, 2015 at 1:10

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
2

All the other information presented here is correct and the main problem is liquor licenses. I use the salted variety often out of convenience and price, but it is a lower quality and well, heavily salted. Typically, if I'm using the wine, I'll just reduce salt elsewhere.

If you can't find an unsalted variety and really want something that works well, as an alternate suggestion you can use a dry sherry. It will usually be cheaper than a proper bottle of unsalted shaoxing wine. Note that sherry will also come in salted, cooking varieties and similarly you don't want those.

If you live in an area where the liquor licenses aren't a problem, I hear good things about the Pagoda brand.

Improve this answer
1

Unless you use everything that can be a salt source (soy sauces, fermented whatever pastes, black beans and sauces, chili-garlic-sauces, stocks, pickled chilies and vegetables...) in a chinese style dish by the exact brands and amounts the recipe writer used, you will have to manage the salt (and acid/sugar) balance yourself anyway. If you need to replicate such a dish blindly... then indeed, recipe with exact brands needed.

Availability of unsalted rice wines (they come in light and dark varieties too) will be dependent on locality (licensing laws), if the local asian grocers cannot carry it you might want to ask a liquor merchant to order it for you if he does not have it in store. In any case, expect it to be 2-6x more expensive than the salted variety, even if available off the shelf.

Improve this answer
1
  • I was going to recommend the liquor store also, but here it is right here
    – Escoce
    Nov 17, 2015 at 12:56

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.