Jiangxi Rice Wine Cooking (Jiu Zhong Zi / 酒蒸子)
Jiangxi Province
Jiangxi Province is home to China's oldest surviving rice wine traditions and uses rice wine (lao jiu) extensively in cooking. Steaming in rice wine: whole chicken, duck, or fish steamed in a sealed clay pot with only rice wine and aromatics — no water added. The alcohol steams through the protein and evaporates entirely, leaving only fragrance. The Jiangxi version uses locally produced rice wine with distinctive fruity-fermented notes.