Drunken chicken

Drunken chicken is the name given to several ways of preparing chicken with alcoholic drinks, such as wine, spirits or beer. The best-known versions come from China, with the Shaoxing style, and from the United States, where the bird is roasted over a can of beer.

History

The most widespread Chinese version is linked to Zhejiang province in eastern China and to the city of Shaoxing, whose historic rice wine gives the recipe its character. There the chicken is cooked and left to soak in that wine until it takes on a deep, intense flavour.

Another traditional Chinese method steams the whole bird, chops it into bite-sized pieces and finishes it with scallions, ginger and salt. The meat is then marinated overnight in the fridge in Chinese liquor, sherry or a distilled spirit such as whisky. It is served chilled, often as an appetiser, and the cooking juices mixed with the alcohol set into a liquor-flavoured jelly.

In North America a Western version, also called beer can chicken or throne chicken, emerged. The bird is roasted upright on a partly filled beer can so that the vapour permeates the meat. Bourbon-based variants also exist. In Latin America, the Argentine, Chilean and Mexican dishes share the name, though they usually include beer, chillies and other spices.

Culture

In China, drunken chicken is a common dish at banquets and family meals, and it is eaten cold as a starter. Its liquor flavour and jelly set it apart from other poached birds, and each region and household has its own method.

In the United States, the beer can version is barbecued, and its name comes from the way the bird wobbles once the liquid has evaporated: the wobble signals that it is ready. In Argentina, the drunken chicken is a dish baked with white wine, coriander, cumin and vinegar that belongs to home cooking.

The dish also appears in Greece and Cyprus, where methisméno kotópoulo is served as a meze or main course, marinated in ouzo and then braised. Under one name, very different techniques and flavours coexist depending on the tradition.

Trivia