Shaoxing wine is also called yellow wine. The wine is made by fermenting glutinous rice, and it is made in Shaoxing, Zheijiang Province. The wine is well known around the world, and used in many Chinese recipes. Traditionally, yellow wine cannot be labeled “Shaoxing” if it is not from Shaoxing.
Yellow wine is especially important in red-braised dishes. The alcohol and sugar content helps to break down the collagen in meats.
You can find Shaoxing wine in Asian groceries. There are many brands. There is not an Asian grocery anywhere near where I live, so I order online. I have used the Soeos brand, but I am in the process of comparing other brands. The highest rated brands in China do not seem to be available. I recently purchased Qian Hu from a seller on Amazon. I have not done a chemical analysis to compare the Soeos discount, “premium” and Qian Hu brands–some makes are higher in alcohol, some higher in sugar, and I am still comparing them in recipes. Flavor-wise they seem about the same.
The folks at Woks of Life recommend Huatiao as a higher quality brand, and also mention the Qian Hu brand. All three brands mentioned here are available from sellers on Amazon.
Chinese tradition
Shaoxing wine was once commonly consumed as a beverage, but now it is primarily used for cooking. There is an ancient tradition with a type of Shaoxing wine, called daughter’s wine (Nǚ Ér Jiǔ (女儿酒):
For the uninitiated, if yellow rice wine is an icon of Shaoxing in eastern China, Nü Er Hong — named after a folk tradition — can be regarded as its crown jewel. In Shaoxing, a customary practice for a man with a newborn daughter is to make a jar of rice wine and store it in a wall. On the day of the daughter’s marriage, he breaks the wall and retrieves the well-aged wine. The wine is then loaded, as part of the daughter’s dowry, onto her palanquin bound for the bridegroom’s place.
This matrimonial wine is known historically as Nǚ Ér Jiǔ (女儿酒, or “daughter’s wine”), and represents the father’s deepest love for his daughter.
https://supchina.com/2021/08/26/nu-er-hong-how-a-rice-winemaker-created-a-legendary-chinese-brand/
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