Taiwanese 3-Cup Chicken

(San Bei Ji 三杯鸡)

September: National Chicken Month

The tables have turned—literally—when Islander, a volunteer tutor at the local literacy center, became the student. YaJu Y. from Taiwan had completed all her lessons in English as a Second Language from Islander and wanted to give back some knowledge to her before she returned to her country. Knowing that Islander likes to cook cultural foods, YaJu wanted to share some easy recipes from her country.

San bei ji, or three-cup chicken, is a simply satisfying recipe from Taiwan. The sauce is traditionally made with a cup each of sesame oil, rice wine and soy sauce (but YaJu and many other cooks have adjusted the proportions to their tastes, mainly reducing the oil). This chicken dish is flavored with Asian mainstays of garlic and ginger and is similar to Japanese shoyu chicken and Filipino chicken adobo recipes. But the addition of Thai basil at the end of the cooking cycle gives this three-cup chicken an A+ taste.

Learn how to make this chicken dish, san bei ji, for a terrific and tasty Taiwanese meal during National Chicken Month.

Recipe

(From YaJu Y.)

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds chicken wings
  • ¼ cup sesame oil, divided use
  • 15+ cloves garlic
  • 2-inch piece of ginger, peeled and cut into “coins”
  • 3-4 stalks green onion, sliced into 1 inch pieces (green part only)
  • 2-3 dried red chili peppers
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • ¼ cup soy sauce
  • ½ cup rice wine
  • 1 bunch Thai basil leaves

Directions

In a large pot, place the chicken wings. Fill with enough water to cover. Parboil for about 15 minutes to remove the scum from the meat. Drain the water and pat dry the chicken with paper towels. In a large wok, heat 2 tablespoons of the sesame oil and fry the chicken until browned. Remove to a plate and blot out excess oil with paper towels.

In the same wok, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of sesame oil and sauté the garlic and ginger “coins” with the green onion and chili peppers for about a minute or two until fragrant. Remove to a plate and keep warm. Return the chicken wings to the wok. Stir in brown sugar and rice wine.

Mix in the soy sauce. Add the garlic, ginger, onion and chili peppers back in the wok. Lower the heat and cover the wok. Add Simmer the chicken for about 10 more minutes or until cooked through. Add the Thai basil leaves and toss with the sauce and chicken. Turn off the heat. Serve hot over steamed white rice.

Notes

  • Lower sodium soy sauce may be used to substitute for regular soy sauce in this recipe.
  • Instead of chicken wings, other chicken pieces may be used. Chop them into smaller sizes to cook more quickly.
  • YaJu taught Islander other simple Taiwanese and Chinese recipes. They will be posted on this blog in due time.
  • Search our blog for more chicken recipes.