Quick, easy and fuss-free weeknight dinner! This delicious Taiwanese Three Cup Chicken takes less than 30 minutes to get to the table
No no no, to viral food
My sister, Nara, can’t understand why I don’t post recipes or food that goes viral on social media. Some of the stuff I see circulating looks interesting, but my goal for this website was to share reliable recipes I love and would make on repeat.
However, I’m not fully immune to all viral food. I’ll try the ‘Vodka pasta’ and ‘Dalgona coffee’ one day. Nara attempted the latter a few times and failed miserably, so I’m going to use this as motivation to make one successfully so I can rub it in her face! Yes, sister rivalry is real, but it’s just meaningless fun.
Taiwanese Three Cup Chicken pops up in my social feeds often. I knew I had to try it, as it simply looked delicious. The ingredients called in this dish were already in my pantry, except for basil. Looks like I waited too long to try this quick, simple and delicious dish!
This Taiwanese-inspired dish offers bite-sized tender chicken in salty savoury soy sauce comprising light and dark soy sauce, sesame oil and Shaoxing wine with fresh basil.
Oh, speaking of basil, what on earth is happening here? I popped into my local supermarket, but there wasn’t any basil. Then when I finally found some at a greengrocer, they wanted $6.99 for a bunch that looked half dead. Like a weirdo, I stood still there for 5 minutes, deciding if to purchase it.
There’s also a shortage of lettuce, and some stores were charging $12 for iceberg lettuce! Good grief!!! Why can’t I be skilled at gardening like my mum?
What is Three Cup Chicken?
So the internet tells me that Three Cup Chicken stands for the three key ingredients in this dish, which are a cup of soy sauce, a cup of sesame oil, and a cup of Shaoxing cooking wine. Don’t worry, we won’t need 1 cup of each ingredient for just 4 servings!
When I was younger, I always wondered how Chinese food got that delicious roasted nutty flavour in their dishes. I couldn’t tell you just how excited I was when I discovered it was sesame oil, that stuff is liquid gold! As much as I love sesame oil I only use it sparingly to flavour my Asian dishes. It’s quite strong so only a teaspoon would be enough to flavour the entire dish.
So when I saw some recipes calling for half a cup of sesame oil in their Three Cup Chicken recipe, I was shocked! That’s pretty much the entire bottle of sesame oil. I’m a fan of traditional methods so I gave this a go but found it way too oily for my liking.
After a few trials and taste testing with Nara and hubby, we agreed this recipe worked the best. It’s not overly greasy and has the right balance of salty and sweet flavours with the right amount of heat.
We have more delicious Asian recipes for you to try:
Korean-style Pork Ribs
Chinese Roast Duck
Pork & Prawn Potstickers
Poached Chicken in Soy
Ingredients for Three Cup Chicken
Chicken thighs – I used boneless and skinless chicken thighs. Breast meat would work as a substitute, but the chicken will be slightly drier.
Sesame oil is very aromatic with a roasted nutty flavour. Supermarkets usually stock sesame oil in the international or cooking oil section of the supermarket.
Dried chillies – Some supermarkets have dried chillies in their international section. If not, most Asian grocers supply them. Dried chillies have different heat levels, ranging from mild to ultra spicy, depending on the brand. It’s best to have a little taste to see how hot they are before using them. This way you can judge how many to use and adjust to your liking. If you’re unable to find dried chillies, use fresh red chillies or omit them if you prefer no heat.
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Light soy sauce or regular soy sauce, but avoid the dark or sweet soy sauce varieties, as these are not interchangeable.
Dark soy sauce – The dark soy sauce variety is mainly used to add colour to a dish. It’s less salty, but sweeter and thicker than regular or light soy sauce.
Shaoxing cooking wine is a Chinese cooking wine, sometimes known as Shao Xing or Shao Hsing. It comprises water, rice, wheat, salt and alcohol. Bottles of Shaoxing wine are cheap to buy from Asian specialty stores and some supermarkets stock them too. Mirin or dry sherry are good substitutes for Shaoxing wine.
How to make Three Cup Chicken
Step-by-step guide with photos
For the sauce – Mix all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl until the sugar has mostly dissolved.
Heat the sesame and peanut oils in a large wok/frying pan over medium-high heat, then add the garlic, ginger and chillies and stir-fry for 1 or 2 minutes until aromatic. Add in the chicken and stir-fry until it’s mostly cooked. Give the sauce a good stir, then pour it over the chicken and bring the sauce to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and let the chicken simmer for 10 minutes.
Uncover the wok and increase the heat to high. Stir-fry until most of the sauce has reduced, and the chicken has darkened. Add in the basil leaves and stir-fry for a minute. Best served immediately with steamed rice.
Leftovers – Allow the chicken to cool completely at room temperature, then transfer it into a sealed container and store it in the fridge for up to 3 days.
I’ve used a third-party application to calculate the calories and nutritional information, so please use this as an approximate guide only.
Cooking measurements are in Australian standard spoon and cup measurements. For specific details and conversions, visit our Australian Cooking Measurements page.
I would love your feedback and support if you made this recipe. To do this, please rate this recipe and provide a comment by scrolling down this page or by clicking that green circle on the bottom left. An email address is required (for spam), but it won’t be published. I would also love to see your dish, so don’t forget to tag me on my Instagram account ‘3catsfoodie’
Cheers – Cat T
Three Cup Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp sesame oil (NOTE 1)
- 2 tsp peanut oil
- 4 cloves garlic (sliced thinly)
- 5 thin slices ginger
- 2 dried or fresh chillies (omit or adjust to taste, sliced thinly) (NOTE 2)
- 800 gm boneless and skinless chicken thighs (sliced into bite-sized pieces) (NOTE 3)
- 1 cup basil leaves (loosely packed)
For the sauce
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce (NOTE 4)
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce (NOTE 5)
- ¼ cup shaoxing wine (NOTE 6)
- 1 tbsp sugar (or less, adjust to taste)
- ¼ cup water
Instructions
- For the sauce – Mix all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl until the sugar has mostly dissolved.Heat the sesame and peanut oils in a large wok/frying pan over medium-high heat, then add the garlic, ginger and chillies and stir-fry for 1 or 2 minutes until aromatic. Add in the chicken and stir-fry until it's mostly cooked. Give the sauce a good stir, then pour it over the chicken and bring the sauce to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and let the chicken simmer for 10 minutes.
- Uncover the wok and increase the heat to high. Stir-fry until most of the sauce has reduced, and the chicken has darkened. Add in the basil leaves and stir-fry for a minute. Best served immediately with steamed rice.
