Taiwanese Three-Cup Chicken
CANTONESE · CHINA

Taiwanese Three-Cup Chicken

三杯雞Main

Equal cups of sesame oil, soy sauce and rice wine, cooked down until the sauce is a dark, sticky lacquer and the basil hits the heat like a slap. This is san bei ji, Taiwan's loudest weeknight classic, and it is all about the reduction.

Total
45 min
Heat
2/5
Serves
4

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Flavour profile

Heat
Funk
Acid
Richness
Umami
  • Garlicky
  • Ginger
  • Smoky
  • Sweet

The real deal

Region
Taiwan, though it is an old Jiangxi dish brought over by mainlanders and made its own. Named for the three equal cups.
Technique
A dry braise: the chicken cooks down uncovered in sesame oil, soy sauce and rice wine until the liquid is gone and everything is glazed and sizzling.
We kept
One cup each of toasted sesame oil, soy sauce and rice wine, a mountain of ginger, whole garlic cloves, and a fistful of Thai basil folded in off the heat.

Ingredients

4 Serves

Braise

  • 900 g · bone-in, skin on, cut through the bone into large chunks
  • 120 ml
  • 120 ml
  • 2 tbsp
  • 120 ml · or Taiwanese rice wine
  • 15 g · one small lump

Aromatics

  • 8 cm · thick coins, skin on
  • 12 cloves · whole cloves, lightly smashed
  • 6 · optional · snipped, seeds out

finish

  • 60 g · leaves picked, stems kept

Method

  1. Chop the through the bone into large chunks, roughly 5 cm across. Bone-in pieces give the sauce its depth; ask the butcher to do it if you can. Slice the into thick coins. Leave the skin on, it is there to perfume the oil. Smash the cloves with the flat of your knife and pull the skins off. Leave them whole so they turn soft and sweet, not bitter. Snip the into short lengths and shake out the seeds. Pick the leaves from the stems and keep a few stems for the pot. The stems carry the perfume; they are not there to be eaten.

    Bone-in, skin-on chicken is not negotiable here. Boneless thigh goes dry before the sauce reduces.

  2. Heat the in a wide, heavy pot or wok over medium heat. Add the ginger and fry gently until the edges curl and turn golden and the air smells of toasted sesame, about 3 min.

    Toasted sesame oil burns easily. If the ginger browns in under a minute, the oil is too hot.

  3. Add the and the and stir for another 1 min, until the garlic smells sweet and the chillies darken a shade.

    Whole garlic cloves go bitter fast once they colour; keep it pale gold.

  4. Push the aromatics to one side, add the chicken skin-side down and let it sear without moving until the skin is deep gold, about 4 min. Turn and give it another 2 min.

    Crowding the pot steams the chicken. If it looks tight, do it in two batches.

  5. Pour in the , the , the and the , add the reserved basil stems and bring to a boil. Drop the heat to low heat and simmer uncovered, turning the chicken once or twice, until the liquid has collapsed into a dark, sticky glaze that coats the back of a spoon, about 18 min.

    Lid off is the whole point: the sauce must reduce, not steam. If it is still thin at the end, raise the heat and toss until it clings.

  6. Kill the heat. Fish out the basil stems, drop in the basil leaves and toss once or twice so they wilt in the residual heat, about 20 sec. Serve straight from the pot with rice, spooning the oil and glaze over the top.

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