Sesame Wine Chicken Mee Sua
The last few days have been rainy, so this sesame wine chicken mee sua (麻油酒鸡面线) is the perfect dish for the cooler season. With ginger, sesame oil and Chinese wine, this dish is comforting and warming at the same time.
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This is my bowl of sesame wine chicken soup. Can you tell how thick and rich the soup is from looking? It can stand well as a rich chicken soup on its own to be served with rice.
But the best way to serve is to add “mee sua” (wheat vermicelli/面线) to make this a one-dish meal. The silky noodles soak up the richness of the soup.
Cooking this dish is also really simple. First, cook lots of thinly sliced ginger in lots of sesame oil. These two ingredients are warming (“heaty’) so use more or less according to your preference and the season.
Stir-fry chicken in the aromatic ginger oil until cooked on surface.
Add chicken stock, mushrooms and wine. Simmer for 20-30 minutes.
Despite appearances this is a relatively quick cooking dish. There is enough time to buy the ingredients from the supermarket after work and cook this right away for dinner. I personally love cooking this the night before, to be heated up and served for dinner the next day since this dish tastes even better overnight, after soaking in the chicken soup and wine. That saves me a lot of time if I know that I am having a long day ahead the next day.
Sesame Wine Chicken Mee Sua Recipe
Since the trio ingredients of ginger, sesame oil and Chinese wine are warming ingredients, you may use more or less of each ingredient according to personal preference and the season. For extra wine taste, add 1 tbsp of Chinese wine to each bowl of noodles before serving.
“Mee sua” or wheat vermicelli can be substituted with Japanese somen noodles or angel hair.
Ingredients:
Sesame wine chicken soup:
- 3 tbsp pure sesame oil
- 50 grams ginger sliced thinly
- 500 grams chicken drumlets
- 500 ml chicken stock as a short cut, use instant tetra-pak stock
- 200+100 ml Chinese wine (Hua Tiao/Shaoxing) divided
- dried black fungus soaked in hot water until softened; drained
- dried shiitake mushrooms* soaked in hot water until softened, squeeze out excess liquids
- 1/2 tbsp wolfberries soaked in water until plump; drained
* Use thin, quick cooking type of dried shiitake mushrooms
To serve as a one-dish noodle dish:
- 3-4 bundles “mee sua” (wheat vermicelli/面线) about 50 grams per bundle per person
- chopped spring onions to garnish
- sesame oil 1 tsp per bowl
Directions:
Sesame wine chicken soup (麻油酒鸡汤）
- Heat sesame oil in wok. Add ginger slices and fry until fragrant, about 3 minutes.
- Add chicken and stir fry until cooked on surface.
- Add chicken stock, 200ml wine, black fungus and shiitake mushrooms. Simmer for 15 minutes, skimming off any scum on the surface with a mesh strainer.
- Add wolfberries and the remaining wine (100ml). Simmer for 5 more minutes. Season to taste.
Serving as a one-dish meal (麻油酒鸡面线）
- Bring a small pot of water to boil. Cook noodles for about a minute, then drain and set aside in serving bowls.
- Toss each bowl of noodle with 1 tsp of sesame oil.
- Ladle the chicken wine soup over the noodles, garnish with spring onions and serve immediately.