“Three Cups Chicken” 三杯鸡
3 delightful condiments = more than 3 times the delight
“Three Cups Chicken” (San Bei Ji, 三杯鸡) is a popular chicken dish in Taiwanese cuisine. The name is catchy and fancy – in layman terms, it’s basically chicken simmered in sesame oil, soy sauce and Chinese wine. As you can probably guess, the dish derives its name from the use of 3 essential condiments – namely the trio combination of sesame oil, soy sauce and Chinese wine. Despite being called “3 cups”, it does not necessary means adding one cup each of the condiment – rather, equal parts of each condiment depending on the amount of chicken you have (1:1:1) – 1 cup is really A LOT so it can be really greasy and unhealthy ;p
Although equal parts is a general rule, I think one can be flexible and adjust the ingredients to your liking – example less soy sauce to reduce the saltiness, and more Chinese wine and sesame oil for a stronger aroma.
I don’t have any fresh basil when I cooked this, but the addition of fresh basil is essential in the Taiwanese style, so you may wish to add fresh basil if you have it. Update: the type of basil is sweet basil.
Ingredients
(Serves 2-3)
Making of “Three Cups Chicken”(Source: Recipe adapted from 100 Homemade Dishes by Irene Wong)
- Half chicken, cut to bite sized pieces (you can also use about 450g chicken wings/drumlets)
- 10 cloves garlic, peeled & slightly bruised
- 6 slices ginger
- 2 stalks spring onions, cut to 2 inch lengths
- 1.5 tbsp sesame oil
- 1.5 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1.5 tbsp Chinese wine (Shaoxing wine/Hua Tiao Jiu)
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp wolfberries
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- a few fresh basil leaves (optional)Directions
1. Heat sesame oil in wok, then add garlic cloves, ginger, the thick white part of spring onions and stir fry till fragrant.
2. Add chicken pieces and stir fry till the surface are no longer pink.
3. Sizzle shaoxing wine and add light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, water and sugar. Stir evenly, and cover the lid to cook for about 6 minutes.
4. Add the rest of the spring onions and wolfberries, cook for 2-3 more minutes, or till the sauce is reduced & thickened.
5. You may wish to stir in some fresh basil leaves before serving with warm white rice.Note: You can also add one red chilli (de-seeded, cut to small sections) to step 1 if you wish to have a spicy taste.
“Three Cups Chicken” 三杯鸡
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{ 43 comments… read them below or add one }
Ooh…moutwatering chicken dish. i haven’t made any chicken dishes with soy sauce of late.This looks like a good one to try out. Thanks.
That sounds so flavorful. What type of basil is traditional to the Taiwanese style? Is it the same as Italian basil, or is it spicy Thai basil?
This sounds wonderful and easy. VIVA FORMOSA!
I love this dish!! must order this dish everytime I visit Taiwanese restaurant! I didn’t know basil leaves is an optional.All the while I thought 3 cup chiken must have basil leaves! It’s nice to know:)
Yummy! I adore this dish too! I once used 1/2 cup for each measurement and it was way too salty and oily!! I learned from my mistake. :)
It looks very tasty! And very garlic-ee, yum!!
oooh, i don’t think i’ve ever tried this dish but i can imagine the taste in my mouth just looking at the recipe. it looks so good!! x
Wow, this looks so delicious! Irresistable! I’m saving this recipe and learn to cook it. :up:
Yum! Quick question: do I use Thai basil or sweet?
Ooooo this looks so good. I just bought 10 lbs. (yes that’s “ten”) of chicken and have been trying to figure out what to do with it all. This will defiantly be dinner one night. Love how simple this is!
lisa & Dee:: it’s sweet basil :)
This looks really good but what are the wolfberries called for in the instructions?
Thanks
I love this dish!! It’s very unhealthy with so much sesame oil but is very delicious =)Love the addition of basil.
I have always wondered what this 3 cups means. Tks for the explanation. Lovely dish!
Looks good!!
winlee: Sorry I forgot to add wolfberries in the ingredients list, it’s about 1 tbsp :)
This is also one of my fav easy recipes of all…
yes….the addition of basil makes the taste all different but yours has wolfberries….your own special touch!
This is my hubby’s fav dish. Will try it out over the CNY holidays, and let you know the outcome.
Thanks SO MUCH for sharing.
This is my dad’s favorite dish. He always orders this in restaurants. :) Will have to cook this for him one of these days :)
I’ve made this before with the 1 1 1 formula… So strongly flavored and excellent with rice.
Ooh, that looks good for the cold weather here. Btw, is the small clay pot from Daiso? :D
The 三杯鸡 in claypot is so perfect! You are always so creative! :up:
Now I know why I want a claypot: to cook this delicious dish like yours. ;)
Nilmandra: Yes the claypot is S$2 from daiso… what a great buy right? ;p
Aaaaaaaaah…this looks so delightful. I quickly ran through the list of ingredients. All I don’t have is Chinese wine ( & wolfberries of course, never heard of them). Do you think I can substitute the wine it with rice wine vinegar? Can just imagine how good this will taste with warm rice…yum yum! That ceramic pot is stunning! :up:
Oh! I can’t wait to try this at home, and several of the OTHER delights posted in this blog. Thanks Noob for sharing and posting! :up: :up:
Great photos! I always feel so much more educated, about food in general, after reading your entries. :P It sounds tasty and looks tasty too!
Hi deeba, you can omit the wolfberries if you don’t have it. Yes, I think you can substitute with rice wine vinegar, even mirin ;)
Thanks all for the comments, appreciate it :)
happily, this sounds easier than I first thought it would be. It looks like it’s delicious.
Just want to wish you Gong Xi Fa Chai Wiffy!
yumm…yumm…yumm, once I was served this dish in 3 chinese teacups! I can’t remember whether it’s a large or small cups but what’s in it is so yummy… Everyone at the table went ooohhh..ahhhh… admiring the beautiful cups with the chicken insdie but I was saying aloud,”Is this enough?” :lol:
I will try to cook this for my next gathering… bet it will bring back some memory. I think I will use rice bowl instead of tea cups :lol: :D :oops:
I didn’t know the authentic 三杯鸡 has basil in it.
I cook something like that but not with equal parts of sesame oil, it’s too heaty for me. :D
pixen, hi and welcome! First time I heard of serving them in 3 Chinese teacups, a pretty neat idea and must be so cute! Hope u like the recipe when you try it.
didally, hehe … best thing about cooking at home is that we can be more flexible with the ingredients and adjust to our personal taste buds =D
We like to put dried chilli peppers in ours to spice things up. Recipe will be posted soon at our site, but I have to say your pics are very good.
I have never heard of this dish but it does look really good.
Will be trying this one soon.
Nate, look forward to your recipe =)
Jun, hope u like it when u try it out =)
I’m glad i found your website…. I can cook more food for my hubby!!! hehe
Thanks Jessie :)
did you use claypot to fry the chicken?
i tried this recipe today but i added my water so that we can add the gravy onto our rice and the gravy taste good! i love sesame oil taste
Hi Min, I didn’t use the claypot to cook the chicken. The claypot was for presentation purpose only. I used a wok for all the cooking and simmering. Glad to hear you like it … yes I love the sesame oil taste as well. Thanks. :-)
Hi i tried this dish and it taste great!!
glad to hear you like it :)
I just tried making this dish! its soo awesome. I didnt even put wolfberries in but its still good. thanks wiffy :)