Sous Vide Chicken Drunken Wine Chicken is a modern interpretation of an authentic traditional Chinese chicken dish.
I’ve been using sous vide to cook chicken over the past year and I love how moist and juicy the chicken comes out. There’s no chance of ending up with dry chicken when you use sous vide as a cooking technique unless you set the temperature too high.
There are different temperatures and cooking times suggested for cooking chicken by a number of sources, including SeriousEats.com, The Modernist Cuisine cookbook, and ChefSteps.com. You really need to try cooking chicken at different temperatures to decide for yourself which one you prefer.
I like my chicken tender and juicy (like poached or steamed chicken), not well done and stringy (like an overcooked roasted chicken). If you’ve ever had Chinese White Cut Chicken (poached chicken), you will understand the texture I try to achieve when making sous vide chicken.
I’ve tried cooking boneless chicken breast at 58 degrees celsius and it’s a little too pink for me, but at 61 degrees celsius, it’s perfect for my taste.
I have to say that I was sorely disappointed when I cooked my first batch of boneless chicken thighs for this recipe at 75 degrees celsius for an hour and a half based on ChefSteps’ Sous Vide cooking guide. According to The Modernist Cuisine, I should have cooked dark meat at 64 degrees for an hour and a half.
Once you find the right temperature that suits your taste, I highly recommend writing it down and putting a big asterisk next to it for future reference. I’ve forgotten to do that a number of times, so that is why I am officially posting it here on my blog.
Now, onto the Chinese Drunken Wine Chicken recipe. The traditional method of making this dish is to poach a whole chicken in water, scallion, and ginger, then chop it up and let it marinade in a solution of the poached chicken broth, rice wine and salt.
Since I used sous vide to cook the chicken, I used boneless chicken, salted each piece lightly, and laid slices of ginger, onion and scallions on top before vacuum sealing it. Once the chicken was cooked, I simply cut it up and let it marinate in the rice wine/chicken broth mixture.
Sous Vide Chinese Rice Wine Drunken Chicken would make a nice appetizer for a Chinese meal, or can be served as a main course.
Welcome to Progressive Eats, our virtual version of a Progressive Dinner Party. This month’s theme is Boozy Cooking and is hosted by Megan Myers, who blogs at Stetted. For our Boozy Cooking dinner, we all created recipes using beer, wine, or spirits.
If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, a progressive dinner involves going from house to house, enjoying a different course at each location. With Progressive Eats, a theme is chosen each month, members share recipes suitable for a delicious meal or party, and you can hop from blog to blog to check them out.
We have a core group of 12 bloggers, but we will always need substitutes and if there is enough interest would consider additional groups. To see our upcoming themes and how you can participate, please check out the schedule at Creative Culinary or contact Barb for more information.
Please be sure to see what everyone made for today’s event:
Boozy Cooking
Appetizers
- Beer Cheese Dip in a Bread Bowl from Never Enough Thyme
- Tequila Lime Chicken Wings from Spice Roots
Soups
- Carbonnade Beef and Beer Stew from Mother Would Know
- One Hour Ham and White Bean Soup from Miss in the Kitchen
Main Course
- Rum Jerk Chickenfrom Stetted
- Peruvian Pisco Roast Chicken (gluten-free) from The Heritage Cook
- Red Wine and Pork Pasta Sauce Food Hunter’s Guide
- Sous Vide Chinese Drunken Wine Chicken from Jeanette’s Healthy Living
Desserts
- Guiness Chocolate Cupcakes with Irish Whiskey Frosting from Creative Culinary
- Irish Cream Pots de Creme from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter Ice Cream Sauce from Pastry Chef Online
Sous Vide Chinese Drunken Wine Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 pound skinless boneless chicken
- thinly sliced onion
- shredded scallion
- thin sliced ginger
- sea salt
- 3/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
- 3/4 cup Chinese rice wine
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Garnish
- scallions or cilantro
- daikon radish
- carrots
Instructions
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Lightly season chicken pieces with salt and place in vacuum seal bag, making sure pieces do not touch. Put some sliced onion, shredded scallion and a slice of ginger on top of each piece; seal bag.
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Sous vide for 1 1/2 hours at 64 degrees celsius if using dark meat, or 61 degrees celsius if using white meat; remove and let cool; cut chicken into 1/2"-3/4" slices; put in a deep container.
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Mix together chicken broth and rice wine and pour over chicken; sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Serve cold.
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Garnish with fresh cilantro sprigs or thinly julienned scallions, shredded carrots and shredded daikon radish, if desired.
For more Sous Vide recipes, you might like these posts:
How to Make the Perfect Sous Vide Poached Egg
Brined Sous Vide Turkey Breast with Sage Spice Rub
Wonderful tips, Jeanette! Your chicken looks perfectly cooked—plus so flavorful after marinating it overnight! I need to jump on the sous vide wagon, too 🙂
wow..those chicken slices are very tender and juicy!
I have been on the fence about buying the sous vide for a couple of years now. But your chicken has sealed the deal for me. So juicy and lovely it looks. Thanks for a wonderful take on a traditional recipe.
Wow, what a great way to get some spectacular chicken!
I too have been trying to justify a sous vide machine, but like Ansh, this may have tipped the scales for me too. Beautiful presentation, tender and moist chicken bathed in the most delightful combination of flavors … Oh yeah, this one is going in the book for our family! Thanks Jeanette!
Jeanette, this is a perfect meal! I was first introduced to sous vide at the first restaurant I worked at, and there is no denying that it is the most precise way to cook. We used it for everything from chicken to mushrooms. I think it is very cool that they are gaining in popularity in home kitchens. With recipes like your drunken wine chicken, I can see why!
I think it’s great that Ansh wants to buy a sous vide machine. I’ll go visit and try hers! I love this simple, elegant presentation Jeanette; it looks absolutely beautiful.
I haven’t yet bought a sous vide machine (already have too many gadgets), but this post makes me seriously consider adding a sous vide to my already bulging cabinet. Your trial-and-error method for finding a temperature and timing that suits your palate makes total sense to me – and the result is gorgeous. A lovely new take on an old favorite of mine.
I’ve never heard of sous vide, but now I need to check it out! Your chicken looks (and sounds) absolutely delicious 🙂
Thanks! I did it very similarly, but I added a tbsp of sesame oil to each bag with three thighs, and simply bruised one green onion and one thick slice of ginger (~1 tsp) per thigh, reserving the “green” part of the onions for garnish I didn’t need any broth.
Great idea adding sesame oil in with the chicken! Thanks for trying this recipe and for sharing your alterations and feedback!
Sounds delicious ????! How would it be if, you marinate the chicken ???? first. I may just have to try it and get back to you on it.
Let me know if you marinate the chicken first – I’ve never tried that.