A salt level of 1.5% is relatively high. It works fine in dishes that only require a small amount of Shaoxing rice wine, such as 1 tablespoon. However, it would be far too salty when used in larger quantities, for example in Three-Cup Chicken or my rice-wine braised pork belly recipe. Hope this helps!

Hi, this is such good information. I just checked the Shaoxing bottle I was finally able to find at T&T Supermarket. (I’d been looking at stores to find it for a long time.) It tastes vile to me. The label says its salt content is 1.5% or 149 mg/30ml. I’m not a math whiz, so is this good or bad? Thank you for a reply!
p.s. I love your recipes and all the detailed information I find on your website.

Thank you for the kind words, I’m glad you found my blog helpful.
That brand can be used, but it’s best to check the nutrition label and make sure it doesn’t have a high salt content. For example, the one I use has about 0.08 g salt per 100 ml, while I’ve seen other brands with as much as 0.51 g salt per 100 ml.

I can get “Kuaijishan Shaoxing Rice Wine 5 Years” where I live, is this a good brand to use in cooking?

Thanks in advance!

Thank you for visiting my blog and for your thoughtful question. The “Shaoxing cooking wine” sold in many American markets is not the Shaoxing rice wine I recommend. It contains a very high amount of salt so it can be sold as a cooking condiment rather than an alcoholic product. Because of that, I don’t suggest using it. If a recipe only calls for a small amount and you can’t find proper Shaoxing wine, it’s completely fine to omit it.

P

Although I haven’t seen the exact bottle you’re referring to, I assume it should work fine. I’m currently using TTL Taijade Shaoxing wine as well. Give it a taste—it should only have a very subtle saltiness. Happy cooking!

There isn’t a non alcoholic substitute for Shaoxing rice wine. However, you can skip it if a recipe calls for only a small amount.