Three-Cup Chicken

By Sam Sifton

Updated May 1, 2024

Three-Cup Chicken
Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
30 minutes
Rating
5(10,397)
Comments
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Ask 30 people how to make this simple Taiwanese recipe, and you’ll receive 30 different responses. Some fry the chicken before braising it, use more oil, less wine, different blends of soy sauce. Debates rage over how thick the sauce should be, over which parts of the chicken to use. (Few follow the folk recipe that calls for making the sauce with a cup each of sesame oil, soy sauce and rice wine. “If you actually cook it that way,” says Eddie Huang, the Taiwanese-American chef who inspired the television program “Fresh Off the Boat,” “you’ll be in trouble.”) Our reporting and testing led us to the recipe below. Use it as a starting point, and then make it your own.

Featured in: A Taste of Taiwan

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 3tablespoons sesame oil
  • 12-to-3-inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced into coins, approximately 12
  • 12cloves of garlic, peeled
  • 4whole scallions, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 3dried red peppers or 1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
  • 2pounds chicken thighs, boneless or bone-in, cut into bite-size pieces
  • 1tablespoon unrefined or light brown sugar
  • ½cup rice wine
  • ¼cup light soy sauce
  • 2cups fresh Thai basil leaves or regular basil leaves
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

673 calories; 48 grams fat; 12 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 20 grams monounsaturated fat; 12 grams polyunsaturated fat; 10 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 40 grams protein; 764 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat a wok over high heat and add 2 tablespoons sesame oil. When the oil shimmers, add the ginger, garlic, scallions and peppers, and cook until fragrant, approximately 2 minutes.

  2. Step 2

    Scrape the aromatics to the sides of the wok, add remaining oil and allow to heat through. Add the chicken, and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is browned and crisping at the edges, approximately 5 to 7 minutes.

  3. Step 3

    Add sugar and stir to combine, then add the rice wine and soy sauce, and bring just to a boil. Lower the heat, then simmer until the sauce has reduced and started to thicken, approximately 15 minutes.

  4. Step 4

    Turn off the heat, add the basil and stir to combine. Serve with white rice.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
10,397 user ratings
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Comments

Katherine

I made this exactly as the recipe instructs (because that's how I cook; try it as written first and then "riff" later if I feel it's merited) and it was superb. I brought it to a Lunar New Year party and some Taiwanese guests tried it and then bogarted the whole pot because they said it was authentic and delicious. The key is dark meat, they said. Try not to use boned chicken thighs because boning the thighs yourself ensures a fresher tasting dish.

Roni Jordan

Just made this with 2 lbs. boneless skinless thighs. Julienned the ginger; removed that and whole garlic before stir-frying chicken in 3 batches. This kept it from steaming. Then returned all the chicken along with the ginger and garlic to the wok, added the sugar, and magic happened. Added a bit of corn starch in water to thicken the sauce. Saved the scallions for the final moments, along with the Thai basil. Excellent with jasmine rice and green beans tossed with hoisin.

RDCollins

This was excellent, although I made the following changes:

1. Do NOT use TOASTED sesame oil, that's a seasoning; use any light oil instead.

2. Slice ginger about 1/6” thick

3. Use 8 thin scallions or 4 fat ones.

4. Use 4 dried Japanese red peppers.

5. Cook chicken 15 minutes; brown well.

6. Use any brown sugar.

7. Use Mirin rice wine.

8. Use any type soy sauce.

9. Use 1 cup of chopped fresh basil.

10. Cook sauce until very thick and coats chicken.

Zashley

We have made this twice. First time, followed the recipe to a T, and we found it overwhelming sweet, but really liked the concept of the dish. Made again last night and subbed the rice wine for brut champagne (I looked up subs for rice wine and they said dry white, and we used champagne because that’s what we had). It was PERFECT! Will definitely add this to the rotation. I might double the liquid next time to have a little more sauce for the rice. So good!!

A cook from SF

Made this according to the recipe except I halved the chicken and added red pepper and carrot matchsticks to get some veggies in the dish. Had to add some cornstarch to thicken the sauce. Overall quite tasty.

Cannes

No. Just no. I am not going to ask 30 people. I am not going to make it again. I followed the recipe but used dry sherry instead of rice wine because that’s what I had in the house. I won’t say the outcome was awful. It just was not good. My husband thought the sauce was OK and said it might be better if we added sliced onions, green peppers, water, chestnuts, or even bamboo shoots. My thought: it was just very plain and blah.

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