Three Tea Cup Chicken Recipes

THREE CUP CHICKEN (三杯鸡)

Steps:

• Cut the chicken into pieces and rub them with the baking soda. Set aside for 10 minutes before rinsing the chicken off with water. Make sure the baking soda is completely rinsed off. Pat dry the chicken pieces and set aside. This is an optional step.
• Heat up a clay pot on high heat and add the sesame oil. Add the ginger, garlic, and stir-fry until aromatic. Add in the chicken and do a few quick stirs.
• Add the soy sauce, dark sweet soy sauce, Shaoxing wine and continue to stir-fry the chicken. Cover the lid, lower the heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes.
• Add the basil leaves and stir well with the chicken, dish out and serve immediately.

THREE CUP CHICKEN

Steps:

• Prep Chicken: Toss the chicken pieces together with the baking soda and set aside for 10 minutes. Rinse the chicken with water to wash away the baking soda. Pat dry the chicken with paper towels.
• Make the Sauce: In a small bowl, mix the sauce ingredients; shaoxing wine, soy sauce, dark soy sauce and brown sugar, don't add the sesame oil yet.
• Cook: Add the two tbsp of sesame oil to a wok and heat over high medium-high heat. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for about a minute until aromatic. Add in the chicken and toss. Stir fry the chicken for about 4 minutes or until no longer pink and starts to lightly brown.
• Thicken: Pour the sauce over the chicken and reduce the heat to medium. Cover with a lid and cook for 10 minutes. Make a slurry with the cornstarch and water and add to the wok and stir. The sauce should thicken almost immediately. Drizzle the remaining tbsp of sesame oil over the chicken.
• Finish & Serve: Add the basil leaves and stir well with the chicken. Serve immediately over cooked rice.

THREE CUP CHICKEN (三杯鸡)

Steps:

• In a 12" heavy-bottomed wide skillet (*Footnote 2) heat the sesame oil over low heat and add the ginger. Slowly fry the ginger until it begins to brown and curl on the edges, about 10 minutes.
• Add the garlic and dried chili peppers. Cook until the garlic turns light golden, another 5 minutes.
• Turn the heat up to a medium-low (be careful not to turn the heat too high or the sesame oil will burn and become bitter). Move all the aromatics to the side of the pan and add the chicken in a single layer. Rearrange the aromatics on top of the chicken to prevent from burning, if needed. If you have trouble fitting all the chicken, you can remove the aromatics and add them back later.
• Cook the chicken, undisturbed, until lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Flip the chicken and cook until browned on the other side, another 5 to 7 minutes.
• Add the Shaoxing wine and use a wooden spatula to scrape any brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Add back the aromatics if you removed them previously. Gently stir everything together.
• Add the soy sauce and sugar and stir again to coat all the chicken pieces.
• Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce the heat to low or medium-low. Simmer covered for 40 minutes. Stir and toss occasionally to coat the chicken and check on the consistency of the sauce.
• After 40 minutes, remove the lid. The sauce should have thickened and coated the chicken very well. If the sauce is still watery, cook uncovered for a few more minutes. Stir frequently to prevent sticking.
• Add the basil. Stir and cook for another 2 minutes or so. Once the sauce is thick and glossy, transfer the chicken to a big serving plate.
• Serve hot over steamed rice as a main dish.

THREE CUP CHICKEN (SAN BEI JI)

Steps:

• Start by putting the sesame oil, vegetable oil, ginger, garlic, and red chili into your wok over medium heat. Let the aromatics infuse the oil for a couple minutes.
• Then turn up the heat to high, and add the chicken wings to the wok all in one layer. Sear the chicken until golden brown on both sides. Then add 1/4 cup warm water, ¼ cup Shaoxing wine, dark soy sauce (2-5 teaspoons, depending on how dark you'd like the dish to be), 1 1/2 tablespoons light soy sauce, and 2 teaspoons sugar.
• Stir and cover the wok. Turn the heat down to medium and simmer for 15 minutes to cook the chicken through (cook for 20 minutes if you want the chicken to be more tender).
• Then remove the cover and turn up the heat to rapidly reduce the sauce for a few minutes until it clings to the chicken and gives it a rich, dark color. Make sure to stir the chicken during this process to prevent burning.
• Throw in your Thai basil and/or scallions and fry another minute until it's wilted. Serve!

SALT AND PEPPER SHRIMP AND 3-CUP CHICKEN WITH RICE

Steps:

• Gather your ingredients.
• For the shrimp: Combine the peppers, salt and 5-spice powder in a small bowl or ramekin. Crush the garlic with a hard whack of the knife placed flat over the cloves and hitting them with the heel of your hand. Peel away the skins and clean away the hard root ends. Peel and grate or slice or chop the ginger root. Core and quarter the lettuce and reserve half for another use. Shred the remaining lettuce very thinly and line a platter with it.
• Heat the oil, 2 slow turns of the pan, in a large, shallow nonstick skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add the garlic and swirl. Add shrimp and cook, tossing the shrimp until pink and opaque or firm, 4 to 5 minutes. Add Shaoxing or alternative and lime juice and swirl to absorb into shrimp, 1 minute. Top with scallions. Slide the shrimp onto the lettuce.
• For the chicken and rice: Heat the water for rice in a 3-quart saucepot to a boil. Salt water, add rice and reduce heat to simmer. Cook rice covered for 15 minutes, shaking pan occasionally. Turn off heat and fluff with fork.
• Cut chicken into large bite-size pieces. Pop skins of garlic and halve the cloves. Peel ginger with tip of a teaspoon. Julienne the ginger into thin sticks or very thinly slice it into rounds.
• Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add the sesame oil, garlic and ginger; do not let them brown, swirl constantly a minute or 2. Then add the chicken and tuck the garlic and ginger in between. Let the chicken brown 3 to 4 minutes. Turn, add rice wine, dark and light soy sauces, light brown sugar and scallions and reduce heat to simmer. Cover and braise about 12 minutes.
• Uncover the chicken and raise heat to thicken sauce a bit. Add basil to serve.
• Serve the chicken from the pan and transfer the rice to a bowl.

TAIWANESE-STYLE THREE CUP CHICKEN

Steps:

• Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken pieces, and cook until lightly browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Remove chicken from skillet and set aside.
• Heat sesame oil in skillet, then add ginger and garlic. Cook and stir until the ginger begins to brown, about 30 seconds. Stir in the reserved chicken, sherry, soy sauce, water, and sugar. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until there is only 1/4 cup of liquid left in the skillet, about 20 minutes. Stir in the basil and chiles, and increase heat to medium; continue cooking until the liquid is almost gone.

THREE CUP CHICKEN

Steps:

• Cut the wings into three sections. Save the wingtips for stock or discard them. Pat the drum and flat sections dry with paper towels.
• Rehydrate the mushrooms in warm tap water, about 15 minutes. When softened, remove the stems and cut the caps into quarter-moon pieces. Discard the stems.
• In a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat, add the oil, ginger slices, garlic, chiles and white sections of the green onions. Stir fry until aromatic and beginning to soften, about 2 minutes.
• Move the aromatics to one side of the pan and add the chicken pieces in a single layer, working in batches if necessary. Cook each piece of chicken until golden brown on all sides, turning occasionally. If the aromatics start to get too dark, remove them to a small plate and reserve.
• When the chicken is golden, add the rice wine, thin soy sauce, sweet soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar and mushroom caps. Add the aromatics back to the pot if you removed them. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Loosely cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally so all the pieces get color and flavor.
• If the cooking liquid is thin, remove the lid, raise the heat to medium and allow the sauce to reduce. Stir frequently to prevent burning. The bubbles will get larger and start to glaze onto the chicken pieces. When the sauce has reduced to a rich glaze, taste and adjust the seasonings if necessary. Garnish with the green onion tops and Thai basil if using. Serve immediately.

THREE CUP CHICKEN (SAN BEI JI)

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the ginger, garlic, scallions, and chilies, if using, and cook until just fragrant, about 1 minute.
• Add the chicken pieces and lightly brown, stirring occasionally, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add the rice wine, soy sauce and sugar and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
• Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, covered, until the chicken pieces are cooked through and the sauce has reduced to a thick, slightly syrupy consistency, about 15 minutes. If the sauce is not thick enough, continue cooking uncovered, stirring occasionally, until it has reduced to your desired consistency.
• Stir in the basil and remove from heat. Serve immediately with the rice.

THREE-CUP CHICKEN

Steps:

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

THREE-CUP CHICKEN

Steps:

• Heat up the sesame oil in a wok or a large skillet on high heat.
• Add garlic, ginger and serrano peppers, stir fry until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
• Add the chicken pieces and cook until it's white in color, about 5 minutes.
• Stir together the soy sauce, rice wine and sugar in a bowl, pour over chicken.
• Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to low.
• Let cook, uncovered, until sauce thickens, about 30 minutes.
• Turn heat back up to high and add basil and scallions, cook for another 2 minutes.
• Serve over steamed rice.