Three Cups Chicken or “San Bei Ji” (三杯鸡) in mandarin Chinese is a well-known traditional recipe especially popular in Taiwan. This dish derives its name from three key ingredients: Chinese cooking wine, soy sauce and sesame oil. Generous amount of basil leaves and garlic are the other important ingredients for this recipe.

Recipe Notes:

• I used chicken wings in this recipe. You could use any parts of the chicken that you prefer.

• I used Shaoxing Wine in this recipe. You could use other types of Chinese cooking wine that you prefer, although Shaoxing wine will give the dish a better taste.

• I used Black Sesame Oil in this recipe. You could use toasted sesame oil if you prefer.

• I used Lee Kum Kee Salt Reduced soy sauce in this recipe. It has 40% to 45% less sodium compared to the normal soy sauce. Please note that during cooking, the reduced gravy will taste saltier if normal soy sauce is used.

• I used Thai Basil Leaves in this recipe. You could use any types of basil leaves that are available to you.

• I used raw sugar in this recipe. You could you any types of sugar that you prefer. Brown sugar or palm sugar will give you a darker gravy if you so desired.

• I used ½ tsp of ground dried chili to add a hint of spiciness in this recipe. You could use other types of chili that you like and if you prefer more spiciness, you could increase the quantity to suit.

INGREDIENTS FOR THREE CUPS CHICKEN

==================================

(Serves 4-6 peoples)

✅️ 12 Wings, cut and discard wings tip

✅️ ½ Cup Chinese Cooking Wine

✅️ ½ Cup Salt Reduced Soy Sauce

✅️ ½ Cup Black Sesame Oil

✅️ 3 Tbsp Sugar

✅️ ½ Tsp Ground Dried Chili

✅️ 20 Gm Ginger, sliced

✅️ 2 Bulb Garlic, peeled

✅️ 30 Gm Thai Basil Leaves

✅️ 3 Tbsp Cooking Oil

METHOD OF PREPARATION:

1. Mix Chinese cooking wine, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar and ground dried chili in a large cup. Stir sauce mixture until sugar is fully dissolved and then set this aside until needed.

2. Browned garlic with 3 tbsp of cooking oil in a pan over LOW heat. Be careful not to burn the garlic. Set them aside when done. Remove 1 tbsp of cooking oil from the pan and then stir fry the chicken wings with the left-over oil to brown for 1 minute over MEDIUM heat. Add sliced ginger and the sauce mixture prepared earlier into the pan. Scrape the pan to lift the browned bits that are stuck at the bottom of the pan during browning. Cover the pan with lid and simmer over MEDIUM heat for 10 minutes.

3. After 10 minutes, remove the lid and stir briefly to avoid the bottom from burning. Continue to simmer until the gravy thickens slightly. Stir the chicken occasionally during simmering to avoid the bottom from burning. Reduce heat to LOW once gravy thickens slightly. Add the fried garlic and Thai basil leaves to the chicken. Cover the pan with lid and simmer over LOW heat for 3 minutes to infuse the fragrance of basil.

4. After 3 minutes, remove the lid and stir over HIGH heat for 1 minute to further thicken the gravy. Garnish with thinly sliced red chili and serve hot over warm bed of rice.

RECIPE PHOTO GALLERY