Like much of Taiwanese Cuisine, three-cup chicken is rooted in peasant culture. The Taiwanese believe that peasants who lived up in the mountains never wanted to waste their chicken scraps, so they used the materials and ingredients available to them to create a savory, delicious meal. What’s so beautiful about this dish is that it suggests a simple recipe can go a long the way. This simple dish also allows room for the individual to express their own style of cooking. For instance, if you like more sweet than salty, you’d want to use dark soy sauce instead of light. You can also raise or lower the heat of the dish based on your personal preference by adding ginger juice or red pepper flakes. In Taipei, this is popular bar food that locals enjoy with a cocktail or beer. The Taiwanese are fans of textures of food that are chewy, moist and tender so it’s not surprising that this particular chicken recipe is a big hit.

The Taiwanese call this dish, “Three Cup Chicken.” Despite the name, the ingredients vary from recipe to recipe but always consist of delightful tender chicken, ginger, garlic, basil and chili peppers. This recipe calls for a small or large iron pot that can withhold high heat. The sight of sizzling golden, brown glazed chicken will make your mouth water with the potent aroma of basil leaves and fresh ginger filling the air. The aroma is a euphoric experience and makes cooking this dish relaxing and pleasurable and offers simple ingredients, yet complex flavors. The ingredients for this dish pair well together with a nice touch of savory and sweet flavors, dash of spiciness, and lovely aroma basil leaves, garlic, and ginger.

Ingredients:

• 1 – 1 1/2 lb. chicken drumsticks
• 15 – 20 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 1 small piece of ginger, sliced
• Fresh Thai basil leaves (red basil) 
For the Sauce:
• 1/3 cup of soy sauce (low sodium) 
• 1/3 cup rice wine
• 1/3 cup of Asian sesame oil
• 3 Tbsp. cane sugar
• 1 tsp. dried chili flakes (or fresh red chilies)
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Ready in Total Time: 25 min. Prep Time = 5 min.
Cook Time = 20 min.

Simple Preparation:

1. Brown the chicken for a few minutes before adding the sauce mixture.
2. Cook the sauce mixture and chicken for about fifteen to twenty minutes.
3. When almost done, add the fresh basil leaves and stir-fry, then cover with a lid

for 1 min.

4. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve hot.
5. Add a side of white or jasmine rice and a vegetable of choice to balance out the 
 the meat.

Process:

First, organize all your dry ingredients of fresh basil, organic chicken drumsticks, peeled garlic, and one small piece of ginger. Add one-third cup of soy sauce (low sodium soy sauce if you’re health conscious) one-third rice wine, and one- third cup of sesame oil in a small bowl or measuring cup. Based on personal preference, you can use dark sesame oil or regular sesame oil. Once you have all liquid ingredients combine, add three-table spoon of raw cane sugar for sweetness and glaze of the chicken. Add one teaspoon of dried chili flakes, and 1⁄2 teaspoon of sea salt. Stir together and you’ve got your sauce.

Next, you are going to heat up your wok and turn the exhaust fan on. Use a dab of grape seed or olive oil for your high heat pan so your food doesn’t stick to your wok while cooking and for your chicken to brown. Add your preferable amount of garlic and sliced ginger into the wok with your oil and give it a quick stir to get the fragrances out of ginger and garlic. Once that is cooked, go ahead and add the chicken and give it time to brown.

Now that the chicken is brown, go ahead and add the sauce mixture you have already prepped. This is the time to leave the chicken alone for about fifteen to twenty minutes and let the sauce simmer down and become thick and rich in flavor. It will eventually become glossy and glaze over the chicken well. In the first five minutes, you’ll notice the sauce begin to evaporate and thicken in the first five minutes. While the chicken is cooking, this good time to cook some rice. If you’re serving for two people or want leftover for the next day, go ahead a add a cup of your choice of rice and two cups of water into a small pot. It should take the rice for about fifteen minutes to cook and be ready to serve.

About fifteen minutes later, your chicken should be about done with the rice following behind it. Next, add your basil leaves to the chicken mixture and cover the wok pan for one minute and allow the basil leaves to release their fragrance into the dish for exceptional flavor. Add some extra sesame seeds if you really love them but it’s totally up to you. Your rice should be ready to serve now as well as your chicken.

This is by far one of the best dishes I have ever made. I followed the traditional way to cook three-cup chicken and am so glad I did. It was a perfect mixture of sweet, salty and spice. This is a great recipe to continue experimenting with and adding or switching out some of the main ingredients like rice wine for yellow wine. I highly recommend adding some vegetables of your choice into the leftover sauce from your chicken, which should only take a few minutes to sauté. Now you have a balanced meal of protein, carbohydrate, and vegetable. The sauté veggies also really complement the chicken well mixed with the bed of rice.