Three Cup Chicken

Ingredients

The chicken

• 1 kgbone-in chicken thighs
• chopped through the bone
• into 4 cm pieces
• or 800 g boneless thighs
• cut into large chunks
• skin left on

The three cups

• 80 mlblack sesame oil
• toasted, not the pale kind
• 80 mlsoy sauce
• 80 mlTaiwanese rice wine
• or Shaoxing wine
• or dry sherry

The aromatics

• a large thumb of ginger
• sliced into thin coins
• 10 clovesgarlic
• left whole and peeled
• 3dried red chillies
• or 1 fresh red chilli, sliced
• 4spring onions
• cut into lengths

The finish

• 1 tablespoonrock sugar
• or caster sugar
• a very large handful Thai basil
• leaves only
• about 50 g
• a splash of water, if needed

To serve

• steamed white rice
• a simple green vegetable
• stir-fried water spinach
• or blanched greens

Directions

1. Use Thai basil from an Asian grocer if you can. The quantity should look absurd when you add it. Heat the oil over a medium to low flame. Do not let it smoke at any point. Add the ginger slices to the warm oil.
2. Fry them gently until the edges curl. They should turn golden and smell strongly. Add the whole garlic cloves to the pan. Whole cloves turn soft and sweet in the braise.
3. Fry them until they are lightly golden. Add the dried chillies for the last minute. Turn the heat up slightly but not high. Brown the chicken on all sides in the oil. That takes about six to eight minutes.
4. Work in batches if the pan is crowded. Add the rock sugar at the same time. Stir everything together thoroughly. Bring it to a simmer and then cover the pan. Simmer it for about fifteen minutes.
5. Stir it once or twice during that time. Bone-in pieces may need twenty minutes. Reduce the sauce until it becomes a glaze. It should coat the chicken thickly. Stir often so the sugar does not catch. Add a splash of water if it tightens too fast.
6. Add the entire handful of basil at once. It will look like far too much for the pan. Toss it through for thirty seconds only. Take the pan off the heat immediately.
7. Serve it straight away, still steaming. Warn anyone at the table that it is very hot. Serve it with plenty of steamed white rice. Leftovers keep for three days in the fridge. Add a few fresh basil leaves when reheating. Add fresh basil after reheating from frozen.

Technique

• Black toasted sesame oil burns easily and turns irreversibly bitter. Keep the heat moderate and never let it smoke. This is the mistake that spoils most attempts at the dish.
• The quantity of basil should look absurd. A whole large bunch goes into one pan and cooks down to almost nothing. Thai basil, with its purple stems and aniseed note, is the right herb; Italian sweet basil is too soft and too sweet and it collapses to nothing useful.
• Add the basil for thirty seconds at the very end and take the pan straight off the heat. Cooked longer it blackens and tastes of nothing.
• Use thigh, never breast. Breast dries out completely in the braise; thigh stays moist and takes the glaze.
• The garlic goes in whole. Whole cloves turn soft and sweet through the braise, where chopped garlic would burn away to nothing in the sesame oil.
• The popular story attaching the dish to Wen Tianxiang, the Song official executed in 1283, has no contemporary source the atlas could find. It is recorded here as a story rather than history — attaching dishes to famous figures is usually a later invention.
• The dish is originally from Jiangxi. Taiwan swapped in black sesame oil and added the basil, and those two changes are what made it the dish people now know.

Substitutions

• Shaoxing wine or dry sherry replaces Taiwanese rice wine. Avoid cooking wines with added salt, which throw the seasoning out.
• Boneless thighs replace bone-in and cook a little faster, though the sauce is less rich.
• Regular toasted sesame oil replaces black sesame oil at a pinch, though it is thinner and less fragrant. Do not use pale untoasted sesame oil.
• Caster sugar replaces rock sugar; the glaze is slightly less glossy and a touch sharper.
• Firm tofu or king oyster mushrooms make a genuinely good vegetarian version with the same sauce and basil.
• Fresh red chilli replaces dried, giving a brighter and slightly milder heat.

Variations

• Three cup squid, san bei you yu, uses the identical sauce with squid and cooks in minutes.
• Three cup tofu and three cup mushroom are common vegetarian versions on Taiwanese menus.
• The Jiangxi original uses lard rather than sesame oil and no basil at all, giving a quite different dish.
• Some cooks add a spoonful of dark soy sauce for a deeper colour and a slightly sweeter glaze.
• A version finished with a splash more rice wine off the heat gives a stronger wine aroma.
• Restaurant versions often serve it in a heated clay pot that keeps sizzling at the table.

History

Originally from Jiangxi and brought by migrants; Taiwan added sesame oil and handfuls of Thai basil to the equal cups of soy, wine and oil.

Frequently asked questions

What is Three Cup Chicken?

Three Cup Chicken is a main from Taiwan: chicken braised in soy sauce, rice wine and sesame oil with basil. Originally from Jiangxi and brought by migrants; Taiwan added sesame oil and handfuls of Thai basil to the equal cups of soy, wine and oil.

How long does Three Cup Chicken take to make?

Three Cup Chicken takes 15 minutes of preparation and 30 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Three Cup Chicken?

Yes, within limits. Shaoxing wine or dry sherry replaces Taiwanese rice wine. Avoid cooking wines with added salt, which throw the seasoning out. Boneless thighs replace bone-in and cook a little faster, though the sauce is less rich. Regular toasted sesame oil replaces black sesame oil at a pinch, though it is thinner and less fragrant. Do not use pale untoasted sesame oil. Caster sugar replaces rock sugar; the glaze is slightly less glossy and a touch sharper. Firm tofu or king oyster mushrooms make a genuinely good vegetarian version with the same sauce and basil. Fresh red chilli replaces dried, giving a brighter and slightly milder heat.

What is the most important thing to get right in Three Cup Chicken?

Use Thai basil from an Asian grocer if you can. The quantity should look absurd when you add it. Heat the oil over a medium to low flame. Do not let it smoke at any point. Add the ginger slices to the warm oil.