Toasting in the New Year

Well many would toast with real wine, liquor or beer, I decided to use my home made bai mi jiu(chinese rice wine) to soak a chicken in it. Thus having to drink the wine and eat the chicken too.

That way, I kill 2 birds with one stone. And that is to have my cake and eat it too. Or to drink the wine and have the chicken too.

I cook 2 whole birds, the Hainanese chicken style way. Then had it bathed in icy cold water for 30 minutes. When its cool enough, I cut it up, deboned it leaving only the thighs and wings with bone-in. Then I put it all in a large deep casserole and pour some 700ml of home made bai mi jiu over. Barely enough to cover all the meat. And left it in the chiller to soak for 10 hours.

I removed it from the chiller and carefully displaying it on a large plate. Decorated with sliced Japanese cucumbers and drizzle more wine over it. 1 hour before serving, it was left on the dinner table. As it was taken out from the chiller, it was way too cold to be served.


As according to old chinese belief, one must not eat cold food. Everything must be eaten hot or warm. So I made a nice Ginger sauce to go with it.

This Drunken Chicken is great on its own, with or without the ginger sauce. You can either have it with warm rice or sometimes, my girls eat it with nothing. They would lick their fingers.



And to go with it, I also serve my hubby with a shot of home made Dried Cranberries Wine on rocks.