Fuzhou-Chinese Birthday Drunken Chicken Noodle Soup

Recipe based on popular request


By Chef Si

Date: Oct 2nd, 2017

   I have been asked many times of how to cook Fuzhou drunken chicken noodle soup, whenever it came to my mind to drop down this recipe; when I turned a 90-degree angle, I have already forgotten about it.

   Today, I finally remember to drop down this recipe all because tomorrow will be my birthday and it will be the first day I go to work in an Auckland cafe as a kitchen hand, my luck to find a chef job in New Zealand is worst than any first semester chef school students since the day I tried to work as an apprentice, even when I graduated as the Student of the Year but I still ended up working as an apprentice, I always remember the humiliation when a hotel's executive chef would test me to see if I could tell the meat he portioned was venison. 

   Traditionally, this dish is specially served during a Fuzhou's birthday, sometimes it is served as a confinement meal, during Chinese New Year or when there is a special guest visiting your home.

   Now I remember I have a new batch of Fuzhou red yeast rice wine to harvest, I brewed it especially for my own birthday, but again like last year, I will more likely skip my birthday again, more likely my hands will be soaking in the water for the whole day tomorrow. If the person who tells me I should be happy, ask her to put in my shoe, let me see if she can preach everyone to be happy again!

   Birthday! Often in bad years, you might find it's your saddest and loneliest day as well!

Ingredients:

1 Free range chicken, Asian cut

50g Ginger, smashed

5 tbsp Extra virgin black sesame oil

10 Big size Shiitake mushroom, dehydrate in water

10 Big size Red jujube

10g Goji berries

300ml Red yeast rice wine

1 liter Boiling water

Fuzhou wheat vermicelli noodle

10 Eggs, boiled and deep fried

Method:

1. Heat the sesame oil, add a pinch of salt, sweat the ginger 

    until light brown, add the chicken pieces, stir-fry, deglaze

    with wine as long as it gets drier. Then add mushroom, 

    continue to stir-fry until the fragrance released fully.

2. Then add the rest of the wine and boiling water.

3. Boil for 5 minutes, then add goji berries and jujube.

    Note: At this stage, you can transfer the soup to a

    clay pot. 

4. Cover the pot with a lip, turn the heat to medium-low or

    low to simmer until the chicken is cooked (but not too soft),

    around 30 minutes. Or you can place a cartouche

    on the top and place into the oven, let it cooked for 

    45 minutes at 180-degree Celsius. Lastly, remember

    to add the deep fried eggs to the soup, check the 

    seasoning, just add the salt sparingly. 

5. Fill the drunken chicken soup in a bowl to halfway.

5. Cook the noodles in boiling water. This string-like

    noodle cooks extremely fast. Try to cook in batch

6. Add two chicken pieces on top, a mushroom and an

    egg. Top up the soup if necessary. Usually, the 

    noodle is salty enough, thus the soup must not be 

    too salty. 

7. Usually, just before eating, around 20ml of red wine

    is added again to the noodle.

8. Accompanied by soy sauce.

Note: To cook this dish successfully your fire must be high enough, your pot or

wok must be big enough for a whole chicken during stir-frying before you transfer it to a clay pot or pot. You have to deglaze at least three times. Only good quality red yeast rice wine is used, make sure don't add its sediment for the deglaze. You must not overcook the noodles, it should be served immediately.