Three cups chicken (三杯鸡) is a classic Taiwanese dish, one that I never miss out whenever I eat out at Taiwanese restaurants. I love Taiwanese food–unpretentious, humble, and homey dishes that score high on yum-o-meter.
Taiwanese food is basically Chinese food with local influences, slightly different cooking methods, local adaptations and variations. Many Taiwanese dishes remind me of Chinese-Malaysian food, not due to proximity but the origin of such dishes from Fujian province where many early immigrants settled in Taiwan and Malaysia/Singapore…(get three cups chicken recipe after the jump)
The name “three cups chicken” (三杯鸡) comes from the three key ingredients: sesame oil, Chinese rice wine, and soy sauce. “Cups” refer to the equal ratio instead of literal measurement. A true and authentic Taiwanese three cups chicken calls for basil leaves, the soul of the dish that lends an exotic aroma and minty nuance to the taste. Taiwanese also love their “three cups” recipe with squid (三杯小卷). Both are equally delectable.
Here is my three cups chicken recipe, adapted to my personal liking. I especially love the sauce with steamed white rice. It’s wonderful! If you like Taiwanese recipes, you should also check out this pork and chicken rolls recipe.
Ingredients:
1 lb. chicken (I used chicken drumsticks)
6 slices peeled ginger
6 cloves garlic (skin peeled)
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
1 1/2 teablespoon dark sweet soy sauce (Kecap Manis)
A big bunch of Thai basil leaves
1 tablespoon baking soda (to tenderize the chicken, optional)
Method:
Cut the chicken into pieces and marinate them with 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.
Heat up a claypot on high heat and add the dark sesame oil. Add garlic and ginger and stir-fry until aromatic. Add in chicken and do a few quick stirs. Add soy sauce, sweet soy sauce, Shaoxing wine and continue to stir-fry the chicken. Cover the chicken and lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add basil leaves and stir well with the chicken, dish out and serve immediately.
Cook’s Notes:
- This recipe calls for dark sesame oil, which is different from regular sesame oil. Dark sesame oil is a lot more expensive but the flavor is more intense and with a stronger toasted sesame fragrance.
- You can skip the first step of tenderizing the chicken with baking soda. I personally like it because it makes the chicken so tender.
- If you don’t have a claypot, you can use a regular wok to make this dish.
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{ 36 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow…that sounds really fast and yummy!!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Yes, three cups chicken is a simple and yummy dish.
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What is the baking soda for at the beginning?
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
To tenderize the chicken. It will make the chicken so tender and awesome! A trick.
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I love how easy and tasty this receipe looks. I can’t wait to try it. One question, What can i use instead of Shaoxing wine?
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
You can use dry sherry or Japanese sake.
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So simple and tasty… as usual!!! Have a nice weekend…
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Dominique – have a great weekend, too!
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In the picture it appears that there is something else in addition to the chicken and the basil in the dish. Did you add water chestnuts or mushrooms or anything else? Looks great, whatever it is.
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
They were garlic, not water chestnuts in the three cups chicken. ;)
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OMG!!! I wish I had this now and i had dinner not too long ago!! This looks so so good! Will try it soon!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Helen – you are too funny!! Yes, you have to try. This three cups chicken is a really great dish!
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hi
good recipe.i want clay pot recipe.plz
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Yes, you can use claypot to make this three cups chicken and more!
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Yours look really delicious! Thanks for the baking soda trick!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Yes, my three cups chicken does taste great. :)
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I had tried this dish once. Thai basil leave is the key ingredients in this recipe. The aroma of these leaves made the dish so flavourful. Will try your recipe soon. ;)
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Yes, the basil leaves are great for this dish. Without them, it’s not three cups chicken! ;)
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Wow…. i know already, next time i can try using baking soda to tenderise the chicken. Thanks for your tips. :)
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Yes, try it, it works like a wonder. My three cups chicken was so tender and silky smooth. :)
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Beautiful photo! This dish sounds heavenly. Did you dissolve the baking soda in water and then marinate the chicken in that liquid? Would love to make this. …Susan
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Luna – the chicken should be somewhat moist, so you just rub the baking soda on the meat. If it gets too dry, all some water. Try it, it works like magic!
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Love the look of this! Great for dinner! yum.
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This is one recipe I am looking forward to try. Simple, quick and nutritious. Thanks.
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Oh yum! The dark glistening chicken is calling to me! Bookmarked!
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this looks fantastic! and best of all, i don’t have to go out and get any additional ingredients! i even have th clay pot! can’t wait to try it!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Jen – awesome!! Let me know how it goes.
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Just to clarify a comment that was made here – you recommend Thai Basil for this dish? We have an abundance, so I think I need to try this. How much would you ramp up the proportions of the other ingredients for a whole chicken, cut into its parts?? (We have an abundance of those from our CSA). Love this blog, BTW!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
If you have a whole chicken, then weight it and add the proportion accordingly. My recipe calls for 1 lb of chicken. Thanks for your sweet note about loving my blog. :)
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I enjoy this dish too!
Also, there is “three-cup” mushrooms for vegetarians and mushroom-lovers like me ;)
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Tiga – I didn’t now that. I guess you can “three-cup” everything!
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Hi, im wondering what type of basil you use. Is it the Thai basil or the regular ones? I can only get the regular basil leaves at my place. Thanks.
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Thai basil.
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Its look yummy but can i omit Shaoxing wine? Or replace anything other then wine or sake.
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Well, wine is one of the key ingredients to this dish. You can omit it but it will not taste as great.
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Made this for lunch yesterday. It was fabulous. I just used less kecap manis and added chili. Superb.Definitely a keeper.
Cookbooks seem to recommend substituting sherry for Shiaxing.
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Lexa – chili sounds great. Yes, correct, you can use sherry instead of Shaoxing.
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Looks really very nice!! Can almost smell it here!
Will definitely give this beautiful dish a try this weekend. In fact, I went out to buy a bottle of good Shaoxing wine and a bottle of good quality Dark Sesame Oil (good old Ghee Hiang brand) from the Batu Lancang market (where else but in Penang) this afternoon after reading your recipe.
I love Basil Leaf too. I always cook this famous Thai dish called Kai Pad Bai Ga Prow (Stir fried minced/sliced chicken with basil leaf) using lots of Basil Leaf. It’s so cheap at the Batu Lancang market.
Hmmm, let me check if I still have my claypot tucked somewhere in the kitchen cabinets…
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I was at the store looking to buy a clay pot, but they only had ceramic pots, is that the same thing?
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this looks so good — i’m surprised to see how easy it is to make
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Oooo i simply lurve this dish ….. its very fragrant. Is there a difference between the Thai basil leaves and any other basil leaves ?
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
I think Thai basil leaves have a stronger aroma.
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This looks so good. I’m going to try it out for my family n in laws. :) If I can’t get Thai basil, can regular basil do?
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Yes.
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Looks great – nice recipe – I have a ton of fresh thai basil, and run out of ideas with what to do with them. I’m just a little nervous about heating the sesame oil, I did a stir fry once and added sesame oil to a very hot pan, and it gave off such powerful fumes and what I thought was a really strong smell. So I thought I amde a mistake and sesame oil was just supposed to be used as a garnish or flavor enhancer at the end of cooking – i.e. not to be heated at high temperatures?
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Black sesame oil is the secret ingredient of this recipe. If you don’t like it, use less.
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“1 1/2 teablespoon dark sweet soy sauce (Kecap Manis)”
– Nobody spotted this? Any Taiwanese here? :-) This must be what you meant by “adapted to my personal liking”? Usually we use a lot of sugar and I believe there was arguments that sugar is consider one of the three cups. Using Kecap Manis definitely is an interesting twist.
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
TT – kecap manis is dark sweet soy sauce, it’s like Taiwanese dark soy sauce, but sweeter. If you use kecap manis, there is no need to use a lot of sugar because it’s sweetened. Hope this make sense.
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Wow! this was amazing! such a simple dish yet an elegant flavor. I substituted sweet potato starch for the baking soda. It is a good tenderizer and won’t upset your stomach if you fail to wash it all off.
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made this dish last week, was SOOOO GOOOOD…. thanks for the recipe. can i use the baking soda strategy for steak and other meats? as long as i wash it (the baking soda) off really well. am i washing off any nutrients? i know that if i don’t rinse it well, the food has an ammonia taste to it.
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Yes, my three cup chicken recipe is very good. :)
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oh i forgot, is thai basil any different than the ordinary garden variety basil? i used regular basil.
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
I am not sure what is garden basil. Thai basil is different.
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Yours look GREAT~! Just made this for dinner~~ Not sure if its because I used chicken wings… there seems to be alot of liquid left in the pot … and i cant get the black “glossiness” ( is there even such a word :P ) …. Mine look more brownish ~~ but definitely will try this again~~!!
Thank you for the recipe~!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
It sounds like you didn’t have enough wok-hei when you made this. Did you make it with claypot, over high heat? Or maybe you didn’t have enough dark soy sauce. :)
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is the thai basil leave same as the one in the AMerican Basil leave?
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Oh yeah. This was REALLY good. My wife had had a hard day in the salt mines and came home to this. She thanks you. Did exactly as you said, I have two small sandy pots, heated them up good and hot, the chicken caramelized well, the garlic charred and then got soft, I used very fresh young ginger which was superb and tenderized the chicken with baking soda. My wife said, “again please” so I will. Served it with multi-grain wild rice and super fresh haricot vert picked the same day sauteed with shallots, pine nuts, tamarind and XO Sauce. Thank you thank you for such a wonderful site. Whenever I need something truly authentic and tasty I turn to you. jw
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Awww, thanks so much for your sweet note. Yes, this three cup chicken recipe is awesome! I am glad your wife is a fan! :)
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Just wanted to finally add a note of how much I love your blog. I’ve tried so many recipes on your site and they’ve all worked so well. Just felt guilty taking so much and giving no thanks :)
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Oh yes I love your beautiful blog! The recipes are great and the photography superb.
I’ve just made the Three Cups Chicken. Mine is not as pretty as your photo but it’s so quick to make and tastes wonderful, and that’s the important thing.
Next time — Salt and Pepper Chicken.
Thanks so much!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Thank you. I am glad you love my three cup chicken recipe.
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I love this Three Cups Chicken dish and the cooking pictures make me mouthwatering. The cooking steps are so detailed:)
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