She INSISTED the morning mojito she sipped on was of the virgin variety ... but Paula Deen's goofy, salsa-dancing, chicken-ball obsessed  appearance on "Today" had the Internet asking ... was she drunk??

Deen  and her son kicked it with the morning show gang in Miami this morning to talk  food -- but Deen was taking the conversation all over the place ... and people  on Twitter began to question her sobriety.

She started with an impromptu  hip-shaking salsa dance ... before talking about a run-in with a skunk that went  down before the show began. Deen also tried to make the hosts smell her hands.Then came a round of mojitos (Deen asked if they were virgin) ... and then  a cooking segment, in which Deen professed her love for "chicken balls" ...  prompting Al Roker to comment, "Set your watches, that's where it all went  wrong."
 
By the way, her rep insists that Paula was NOT drunk. She was just being her usual bubbly self.