Hakka Classic

酒 雞 Hakka: jiu gai; Mandarin: jiu ji

In Singapore and Malaysia, when I ask for Hakka recipes, Loh Sye Moy, Amy Wong, and Ho Huey Cheen all suggest wine chicken. This version is my adaptation of their recipes for braised chicken in sweet rice wine and ginger. This stew might be considered a tonic and is most traditionally served to a new mother after childbirth. The wine increases the mother’s supply of breast milk; the ginger builds her chi, or energy; and dried black fungus improves her blood circulation. Even if you’re not a new mother, you will welcome this soupy stew, with its generous portion of warming wine and ginger, on a cold winter’s night.