Flavor Planet

Taiwanese-Style Three Cup Chicken is without question, my favorite Taiwanese dish. I can finish the entire dish and a large bowl of rice all by myself. The rich flavors and tender bites of chicken are addicting, I can’t stop eating it until it’s gone.

I decided to share the recipe of Taiwanese-style three cup chicken a couple weeks ago and since then, I’ve been testing the recipe back and forth. I have finally settled on this version – It tastes as good as what you’ll get in a restaurant and I can’t wait to share it with you!

Let me start by introducing the main ingredients. For two servings, you’ll need one pound boneless chicken leg/thigh, 10-12 garlic cloves, 5-6 ginger slices, 2 stalks green onion, a handful of fresh basil leaves and a couple dried chili peppers if you want to add some heat to the dish.

To begin, I sauteed the ginger slices with sesame oil over medium-low heat. Once they were brown and crisp on the edges, I added the garlic cloves. The garlic will release a wonderful aroma while cooking. Besides the chicken, the soft-on-the-inside garlic cloves are my favorite parts of the dish.

Next, I added the green onion and dried chili peppers in, and sauteed until fragrant.

Up to this point, most aromatic ingredients are in the pan except for basil leaves (which will be added last). The sesame oil has absorbed the flavors from these ingredients and now it’s the perfect time to stir in the chicken.

Wondering why this dish is called “three cup chicken”? The “three-cup” is referring to the seasoning sauce made by combining a cup of rice wine, soy sauce, and sesame oil each.

Since the sesame oil was added in the beginning, now, it’s time to add the seasoning mixture of cooking wine, soy sauce and sugar. Check the recipe below for detailed amount used for each ingredient. This recipe also follows the namesake ratio of 1:1:1 for cooking wine, sesame oil and soy sauce.

Once the sauce has reduced and thickened, the basil leaves are added.

Continue simmering for a minute or two and once the basil leaves have turned soft, this dish is ready! Look at the color, my mouth was watering the whole time while I was cooking.

This dish has a rich, sweet, and savory flavor and the best way to enjoy, it in my opinion, is with a bowl of plain white rice. Spoon some rice onto a plate, add the chicken, basil and garlic cloves on top and enjoy them together!

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