What to use instead of shaoxing wine

Q: What can I use instead of shaoxing wine for deglazing wine that carries off meaty and gamey smells?

Dry sherry, fino or amontillado (1:1). The standard substitute in Chinese kitchens outside China. Sharper and more oxidised, missing Shaoxing's faint sweetness. Dry sake with a little sugar (1/4 cup sake + 1/2 tsp sugar per 1/4 cup Shaoxing). Cleaner and lighter with none of the aged funk, so the braise reads Japanese rather than Chinese. Mirin, with the recipe sugar cut back (1/4 cup mirin per 1/4 cup Shaoxing, minus 1 tbsp sugar elsewhere). Much sweeter and it glazes hard, so the meat lacquers and browns several minutes earlier than expected. Dry vermouth (1:1). Herbal and botanical, which shows through badly in a plain braise. Fine under heavy aromatics like doubanjiang.

Q: What can I use instead of shaoxing wine for the same step without alcohol?

Chicken or mushroom stock with rice vinegar (1/4 cup stock + 1 tsp rice vinegar per 1/4 cup Shaoxing). Covers the savoury body and a hint of the tang. Nothing volatilises, so a strong pork or lamb smell stays in the pan. White grape juice with rice vinegar (3 tbsp juice + 1 tbsp rice vinegar per 1/4 cup Shaoxing). Sweeter, and the sugar browns the sauce faster. Take a teaspoon of sugar out of the recipe to compensate. Shiitake or kombu soaking water (1/4 cup per 1/4 cup Shaoxing). Deeply savoury and clean with no sweetness or acid. Add 1/2 tsp rice vinegar if the finished dish tastes flat.

It depends entirely on what it's doing in the dish. Here's the job, what else does it, and what to skip.

Deglazing wine that carries off meaty and gamey smells

Splashed into a hot wok the alcohol boils off fast and takes the volatile off-notes of pork or offal with it, and what stays behind adds a savoury, faintly caramel depth.

Dry sherry, fino or amontilladoRan out

1:1

The standard substitute in Chinese kitchens outside China. Sharper and more oxidised, missing Shaoxing's faint sweetness.

Dry sake with a little sugarRan out

1/4 cup sake + 1/2 tsp sugar per 1/4 cup Shaoxing

Cleaner and lighter with none of the aged funk, so the braise reads Japanese rather than Chinese.

Mirin, with the recipe sugar cut backRan out

1/4 cup mirin per 1/4 cup Shaoxing, minus 1 tbsp sugar elsewhere

Much sweeter and it glazes hard, so the meat lacquers and browns several minutes earlier than expected.

Where to buy it →

Dry vermouthRan out

1:1

Herbal and botanical, which shows through badly in a plain braise. Fine under heavy aromatics like doubanjiang.

What doesn't work: Supermarket cooking wine, the kind with added salt. It is heavily salted and slightly sour, so the braise is oversalted before the soy goes in and tastes vaguely of vinegar underneath.

The same step without alcohol

With no alcohol you cannot strip the volatile smells the same way, so the job narrows to adding savoury depth and a little acid in the same spot.

Chicken or mushroom stock with rice vinegarNo alcohol

1/4 cup stock + 1 tsp rice vinegar per 1/4 cup Shaoxing

Covers the savoury body and a hint of the tang. Nothing volatilises, so a strong pork or lamb smell stays in the pan.

Where to buy it →

White grape juice with rice vinegarNo alcohol

3 tbsp juice + 1 tbsp rice vinegar per 1/4 cup Shaoxing

Sweeter, and the sugar browns the sauce faster. Take a teaspoon of sugar out of the recipe to compensate.

Where to buy it →

Shiitake or kombu soaking waterNo alcohol

1/4 cup per 1/4 cup Shaoxing

Deeply savoury and clean with no sweetness or acid. Add 1/2 tsp rice vinegar if the finished dish tastes flat.

Where to buy it →

What doesn't work: Plain water. It deglazes the pan and does nothing else, so a red-braised pork loses both the aroma and the savoury layer at once and ends up tasting only of soy and sugar.