three cup chicken (三杯鸡)

I cannot say that I cook a lot of Taiwanese dishes. In fact, I think my repertoire of Chinese dishes is rather limited to what my mom has cooked, which means very typical Singaporean Chinese food.

I have heard of Three Cups Chicken ages ago, but I have never really tried cooking it.

Yesterday, I had a cooking "block". The freezer was nearly bare, and I had a pack of cut chicken taken out to be defrosted. I was thinking of cooking either Sesame Oil Chicken, or Soy Sauce Chicken. *YAWN*

Then my sister came to pick me up to run some errands and she mentioned she wanted to borrow my claypot to cook Three Cups Chicken. I asked her to list the ingredients she would need, and since I had most of the ingredients, I thought, why not?

Hence, my very first attempt at cooking this dish. :)

In a heated wok, add the sesame oil. Once the oil is hot, add the ginger and saute until fragrant. Add the minced garlic, and fry for about a minute or so.

Add the chicken.

Stir the chicken around the wok for a few minutes before adding the light soy sauce, Shaoxing wine and ground white pepper.

Add dried chili and rock sugar.

Cover the wok with a lid, reduce the heat to medium and let the chicken simmer for about 20 minutes.

Be sure to give the chicken an occasional stir.

Once the chicken is cooked through, add spring onion and Thai basil leaves.

Turn off the heat, and the residual heat will wilt the basil leaves and spring onion.

Serve hot, with rice.

I was extremely pleased with the results. It looks like this dish will be appearing pretty soon again on my dining table!

RECIPE
Three Cups Chicken (Serves 4)

Ingredients:
1 kg chicken (cut into smaller pieces) or chicken parts
5cm piece of ginger, peeled and cut into pieces
10 cloves garlic, minced
4 tablespoons dark sesame oil
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
3 tablespoons Shaoxing wine (more if you prefer more sauce)
10 pieces dried chili
2 tablespoon rock sugar
1/2 bunch spring onion, cut into chunks
1 bunch Thai basil leaves
1 teaspoon ground white pepper

Method:
1. In a heated wok, add the sesame oil. Once the oil is hot, add the ginger and saute until fragrant. Add the minced garlic, and fry for about a minute or so.
2. Add the chicken. Stir the chicken around the wok for a few minutes before adding the light soy sauce, Shaoxing wine and ground white pepper.
3. Add dried chili and rock sugar.
4. Cover the wok with a lid, reduce the heat to medium and let the chicken simmer for about 20 minutes.
5. Be sure to give the chicken an occasional stir.
6. Once the chicken is cooked through, add spring onion and Thai basil leaves.
7. Turn off the heat, and the residual heat will wilt the basil leaves and spring onion.

8. Serve hot, with rice.