Name: Huadiao Chicken
Yield: Serves 4 with 2 Other Dishes
Cuisine: China
Ingredients: 1 cleaned chicken, 1.25–1.35 kilos (2¾–3 lb); 22.5 ml (1½ tbsp) honey dissolved in 15 ml (1 tbsp) warm water; 25 g (1 oz/2 tbsp) pork fat, cut into 2–3 slices; 6 spring onions, trimmed and quartered; 150 ml (5 fl oz/⅔ cup) Shaoxing Huadiao wine; 15–22.5 ml (1–1½ tbsp) salt; 150–175 ml (5–6 fl oz/⅔–¾ cup) chicken stock; 1 knob ginger, about 2.5 cm (1 in), peeled and cut into slices

Preparation info

Serves
4
with 2 Other Dishes

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Classic Food of China

By Yan-Kit So

Published 1992

About

In 1988 when I visited Canton, I met Chef Li He, who for many years was the head chef at Guangzhou Restaurant. Among the numerous famous dishes synonymous with his name was this chicken one made in a sandpot with the best Shaoxing wine, called Huadiao. Even as I was trying to envisage its looks and sniff its aroma, the chicken was placed on the table and we ate the chopped pieces with gusto. As I had the good fortune of sitting next to Chef Li, he talked me