This is traditional Taiwanese dish. It literally is called "Sesame Oil Alcohol". Contents are basically alcohol, sesame oil, ginger, and chicken. It should be poured over a bowl of rice.

My version first fries the chicken pieces (bones must be broken to allow the marrow to leak out) and ginger in a small amount of sesame oil. (Along with a tiny amount of minced garlic and Vietnamese fish sauce - the Thai fish sauce found at the local supermarkets is garbage and should not be used.) Sometimes I'll add in some morel mushrooms.

I'll then pour in some high % alcohol and light it on fire. This is actually a critical step and brings out certain flavors with the ginger and shrooms.

Next step makes use of Japanese mirin for a quick boil / steep. Mirin was selected because it adds sweetness without resorting to sugar.

After that, I use 6 parts vermouth (or rice wine "head" 40% alcohol per traditional recipe - but I prefer vermouth) to 4 parts water for the broth liquid. One can always be more aggressive. My grand aunt uses only rice wine head with NO water (but she doesn't slash whiskey in at the end). A ton of sesame oil is them added to the pot. The oil should comprise anywhere from 10-25% of the total volume of liquid. This helps keep the alcohol from burning off too quickly. An oyster or two added here isn't a bad idea either. The mixture should be brought up to a boil very slowly.

The soup is then topped with thinly sliced onion and cilantro. After the pot is removed from heat for a minute or two, I then splash a good quality whiskey, bourbon, or single malt over it (you don't want that part to burn off.)

This is definitely not a dish for the meek. Most laowai will politely remark "interesting" and never touch it again.


(Pic below - day two - partially eaten)