Last weekend I ordered takeout from China Bee restaurant in San Mateo, one of the dishes was Three Cup Chicken. The slight kick of spice and thai basil, brought out the chicken flavor and it was DELICIOUS. I knew this dish but I never made it before; I thought it was complicated but it turns out to be quite simple and straightforward — the three cups literally just mean three main most commonly-used sauces: dark soy sauce + soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine or water.
QUICK TAKEAWAYS
- Marinate chicken/duck with salt (maybe white pepper to get rid of gamey taste)
- I did not marinate duck this time, so it did not taste as well-flavored right after cooking; after staying in sauce for another half day and cooking for another 15-20mins, the duck was much more flavored.
- Thai basil has much more fragrance than normal basil, a full bunch of thai basil will be needed, the more the merrier 🙂
- Duck meat should take longer time to cook over lower heat to make duck meat tender and not as chewy
RECIPE
- 1-2lb chicken or duck, marinate with salt and maybe white pepper powder
- ~10 slices of ginger
- ~3 scallion, cut into chunks
- ~7-8 clove of garlic
- ~1/2 onion or 4-5 shallots, cut into bigger chunks
- ~2 peppers, cut in slices
- 1 bunch of thai basil leaves (normal basil will do, but thai basil has much more fragrance)
- 1/8 cup of sesame oil
- 1/4 cup of soy sauce
- 1/8 cup of dark soy sauce
- 1/2 cup of rice / cooking wine or water
- 4-5 rock sugars
STEP 1: slice ginger, cut scallions and onions/shallots into chunks, cut pepper into slices, smash full cloves of garlics, no need to cut into chunks or mince, pick thai basil leaves and wash
STEP 2: in a pan, over medium heat, add oil (sesame oil preferred) and then ginger. Stir fry ginger till it’s golden and crispy, which is when the ginger fragrance comes out
STEP 3: add in smashed garlic, scallion chunks, onion/shallot chunks and pepper slices into the pan, stir fry till onions/shallots become transparent, make sure ginger and garlic are not burnt
STEP 4: add in chicken or duck chunks, stir fry till skin turns golden
STEP 5: pour in the “3 cups” (not literally based on the portion), soy sauce, dark soy sauce, cooking wine and rock sugar; stir fry till all chicken/duck chunks are covered in sauce. Bring to boil under high heat, then turn down to low-medium heat.
- duck meat might take longer time to cook, and over low heat as their meat could be chewier than chicken
STEP 6: when the sauce gradually dries out in pan, add in all the thai basil, continue stir fry for ~1min
READY TO SERVE!
RESOURCES
All my fav Chinese food youtubers have made this dish 😉
