Vaderling is taking on special cooking projects at home, trying things, stretching his palate, sorta.
Anyhoo, he has found a recipe, it calls for chinese rice wine. I don’t have that easily available, but I do have a couple of domestically produced (in the US) labels of sake, one “coarse filtered” and one clear and a third imported from Japan label, of the “coarse filtered” variety.
Does anyone know, can I substitute the sake for the chinese rice wine?
the recipe does give dry sherry as an alternative, but I detest sherry so I’d rather not use that if I don’t have too.
I don’t see why not, but I’ve never done it. I’ve never seen Chinese rice wine. Sake has a flavor profile that may be very different from Chinese rice wine, but it will probably still taste okay.
Here’s the breakdown. The flavor profile is rather different and IMHO this Westerner’s palate would not want to drink Shaoxing on a bet. It generally has added salt, which works great for cooking but makes for a decidedly funky appertif. I probably wouldn’t use them interchangeably, but that doesn’t mean it might not work at all. It just will almost certainly not taste as the recipe writer intended.
Nope. Flavor profiles are completely different.
There are many different kinds of “Chinese rice wine”, more commonly referred to as Shaoxing wine. Depending on the type, these can be for sauteing, soaking and/or drinking.
Here’s the low budget version, here’s a stronger tasting different sub type (Huadiao) that I prefer for cooking.
I would rest assured that Vanderling (or you for that matter), will be highly unlikely to want to try more than a sip. Good for cooking though.
Anyhoo, you can have amazon deliver in the $9-$15 range.
While the process of making the “rice wine” is kinda similar, it is very different from Sake. sake uses a form of yeast that thrives in low temperatures. Rice Wine uses a mix of yeast and bacteria to ferment.
Hm! Well, I guess we’re gonna find out what a sake substitution tastes like.
As far as cooking with wine, whatever the nation or culture of origin, I have this thing, if I can’t drink it on its own I don’t cook with it, that Shaoxing wine wouldn’t go anyway
Based on a bit of googling and Tamerlane’s flavor breakdown, I’d try some dry sherry if you want to get close to the flavor of rice wine. You might be able to find a small bottle since you don’t like the stuff.
A lot of it comes down to Vaderling’s intention here. If he’s just messing around with recipes that catch his fancy, substitute whatever you like. If he’s trying to expand his knowledge of various cuisines through cooking, consider making a trip to an Asian market or ordering a bottle online. Rice wine is a pretty fundamental ingredient in Chinese cooking and using it will help him develop his palate in regards to Chinese food.
Went with the sake, I don’t mind being a little experimental in the kitchen. The dish was ok, yanno, not bad, not great, kinda bland. Right up Vaderling’s alley(he’s one of those who can only taste bitter in food plants that are green). I will say that the sake did not pair well with the dish as a beverage. I’ll go with the sherry next time if I can’t find the chinese rice wine.