Three Cup Chicken

Recipe by Braxton Lee Allred

Three Cup Chicken, preserved in the Brown Family Cookbook 2020.

Ingredients

Three cup chicken is a very popular Chinese and Taiwanese dish. Almost every
restaurant has their own version of it. While I was living in Shanghai it was one of my
favorite things to order, partially due to its variance. I looked up a couple of different
recipes and techniques, combined what looked good, and now it’s one of our favorite
things to make at home. It’s great if you serve this with some stir fried or roasted
vegetables. Serves 4-5.
¼ cup Asian sesame oil
One (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced into rounds
12-15 medium garlic cloves, peeled
1-2 fresh Thai red chilis, stemmed and halved
2 pounds skin-on chicken drumsticks, thighs, and/or wings, either chopped into 3-inch,
bone-in pieces, or thighs halved along along the bone, wings split at the joint, and drumsticks left whole
½ cup rice wine
¼ cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
2 cups fresh Thai basil leaves (from 1 large bunch) Steamed white rice, for serving

01
Heat sesame oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat until shimmering.
02
Add ginger, garlic, and chilis and cook until very fragrant, about 1 minute.
03
Add chicken pieces to the skillet in a single layer and cook, tilting the pan if necessary
04
to submerge all pieces in the oil, for 1 minute. Flip chicken pieces and cook for 1 minute longer.
05
Add rice wine, soy sauce, and sugar and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
06
Reduce heat to a simmer. Partially cover the skillet to prevent splashes of oil and cook, turning the chicken pieces every few minutes, until the chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Stir in Thai basil and remove from heat. Serve immediately with rice.