From Saveur.com: Real Chinese Rice Wine
Experienced cooks never cook with a wine they wouldn’t drink, an adage that applies across all cuisines. When preparing a Chinese meal, look for real Chinese rice wine—which is richer and darker than sake, rather like a dry sherry—and not the “cooking wine” that’s sold in Asian markets, which is dosed with salt so that it qualifies as a food product, not a wine. Buy the real thing in liquor stores, especially in Chinatowns. We like Nuehong, bottled in jade-colored ceramic jugs. Aged Hau Tiao is good, too—and the younger, less complex Pagoda Brand Shao Xing Rice Wine is just fine.
(Editor’s Note: Pagoda Brand Shaoxing Rice Wine referenced above is not a manufacturer/brewer of wine. Pagoda is a Chinese exporting company that we met with when looking for the best Chinese rice wine supplier. Pagoda is likely the largest Chinese exporter of Chinese cooking wine to the U.S. Also, “Hua Tiao” is not a brand, but one of the four varieties of Chinese Rice Wine. Hua Tiao indicates that the wine is of the “1/2 Dry” variety.)
