Unless you are using the wine for a brine (like Drunken Chicken) it’s not necessary.
For regular cooking, like braised fish ( 红烧鱼) or red braised pork (红烧肉), it’s really not necessary. It doesn’t hurt but it would be a waste.
As an aside, if you like seafood or crab in particular, drunken crab is a real treat.
Hi @ipsedixit ,
Thanks for the money-saving tip. 
Also, Jiang Nan has Drunken Crab?! 
Is it a Special or something on the Chinese-only menu? Thanks.
BTW have you tried their smoked duck?
Why don’t you try to talk them into making it for you by bringing your bottle of 10 year huadiao with you lol.
Hi @sck ,
Thanks, nice idea! 
For the Jiang Nan Spring Tea Smoked Duck? Yes, we tried it there a couple of times. It was good / a solid version. Just as good as Chang’s Garden back in the day (same chef). I’m not an expert on it, but I remember having better versions (more crisped skin, more rounder flavors in the meat), but it was a good local friend who brought me to that place and it was years ago. I forgot the name.
Great rundown. It’s always good to have a place that has a healthy array of comforting dishes.
Not specific to Jiang Nan Spring, but crab with huadiao is a pretty popular pairing - would be interested to see how different restaurants in LA prepare it. At many Cantonese seafood restaurants, you can get king crab prepared in several courses, and one of them is a steamed egg custard in the crab back / tomalley in shell. So, it’s usually a bigger party dish (call ahead for the price per pound and reserve), not something usually ordered for a table of 2 or 3…
At The Chairman in Hong Kong, there’s a steamed flower crab with aged huadiao sauce with egg yolk and chicken fat and Chencun flat rice noodles. I haven’t had it, but it’s a famous dish that I’d love to try; you can just tell it has a super silky and delicate texture. At Fook Lam Moon also in Hong Kong, it’s been since the 70’s with an egg white custard. They had a facsimile at In Situ in SF, where they substituted in Florida stone crab claw. Not sure how faithful it was, but the copy version I had in SF was alright; a bit strong on the huadiao, in my opinion.
At Cantonese restaurants, don’t miss the appetizer of fried pumpkin with salted egg yolk!
Hi @BradFord ,
Thanks! And thanks for the tip on so many interesting dishes with Crab. The one at The Chairman sounds ridiculous and amazing! 
That’s also neat that In Situ (SF) tried to replicate / pay homage to Fook Lam Moon (Hong Kong).
I’ve never seen Fried Pumpkin with Salted (Duck) Egg Yolk before; I’ll definitely be on the lookout for it.
We once got a king crab three ways at sea harbor and it was amazing. One way was sorta drunken like those pictures. One way was deep fried. The other steamed with some kind of delicious stuff on it. The brains weren’t wasted and the the thin membrane thing in the main body was cooked crisp like chips. Price of this has gone up even more. It was a special occasion dish for a larger group with other courses like geoduck 2 ways, squab, steamed fish, lobster, ong choy etc etx.
I would love to go to the Chairman. Jiang Nang Spring will be easier.
You can get it at Shanghai Restaurant on Valley Blvd, as well as Embassy Kitchen and Ahgoo Kitchen.
Shanghai fried noodles, Pickled Cabbage with Peas and Bean Sheets, XLB, and beef roll (sorry, couldn’t help it). Father had asked them to try to use less oil and asked for reduced hoisin sauce on the beef roll (I find the usual amt at all places to be too much).
XLB were average, but everything else was quite good (although the beef roll doesn’t match peak 101 Noodle Express). Not greasy and not a gut bomb (as the noodles and beef roll can sometimes be at other places).
Didn’t read the review b/f my parents order, so forgot about the black sesame rice balls!!! Argh!!!
The restaurant is even closer to my parents’ place than Chang’s Garden was (it used to be a middle eastern restaurant… Walid?), so I hope it becomes a regular for my parents.
One of my two favorite Chinese dishes is eel. I only know it as 三杯做法 which I believe merely translates to eel three ways.
I am gweilo. 
Despite being an Iowa farm boy my first and favorite childhood book was about the Yangtze.
Hi @paranoidgarliclover ,
Yay! So glad you got to try Jiang Nan Spring. Thanks for the report back.
Yah, I wish you had seen my post, because, like you, we agree that the XLB were so-so. We like most of the other dishes.
And yes! It used to “Wahib’s Middle Eastern Restaurant”. Thanks.
Was it The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack? I loved that book too!
Yep. That’s the one. And the Wise Eyed boat.
I even still have my Ping who sits on top of the clock. 
I had forgotten I had the book. It’s not the one from my childhood. That was chiseled into stone I think.
