Three Cup Chicken (San Bei Ji) is a popular Taiwanese dish of chicken braised in a sweet-savoury soy sauce with lots of garlic and ginger. It’s a great quick recipe that takes 10 minutes to cook, and it’s got the sort of flavours that’s a guaranteed hit with everyone – kids, grown ups, fussy eaters!
Taiwanese Three Cup Chicken
I love finding new recipes that tick all my mid-week dinner boxes – quick, pantry staples, universally loved flavours – but is something a bit different. Plus, I get to tell people “it’s Taiwanese”. It sounds far more exotic than “chicken in soy sauce” and makes me seem much more worldly than I really am. 😂
Actually, Three Cup Chicken originates from the Chinese mainland, but over time also became very popular in Taiwan. Today it’s identified more with Taiwan than its mainland China origins. The name is said to have come from the sauce made with 1 cup of each soy sauce, sesame and cooking wine. We don’t use that much (!!!) but the ingredient ratios are not that far off so maybe there is some truth to the tale!
Unlike a typical stir fry which is stirred and tossed, the chicken is gently braised in the sauce so it absorbs all the flavour as it reduces into a glossy syrup that coats every piece. It takes just 10 minutes on the stove and is made for serving over plenty of rice.
So, let me get onto the recipe and show you how easy it is to make, so you too can start dropping “Taiwanese Three Cup Chicken” into very conversation too! 😂
Ingredients in Taiwanese Three Cup Chicken
Here’s what you need to make this. Short ingredient list and basic ingredients! If you’ve already spied Thai Basil and are thinking that isn’t exactly basic….. I concur. But regular basil or even green onion works really well too. So I’m still counting this one as basic. 🙂
1. THE CHICKEN AND AROMATICS
Chicken – I really recommend using thigh rather than breast here because it is holds up better to the braising (ie. juicier). Bone-in pieces of bite size meat are traditionally used in this dish which you can absolutely opt for if you prefer. But I’ve used boneless for convenience – faster to cook, and no picking bones out as you eat.
Garlic and ginger (lots!) – This dish gets a huge amount of flavour from plenty of garlic and ginger. You’ll need 6 slices of ginger and 1 1/2 tablespoons finely minced garlic (about 5 to 6 cloves).
The ginger is traditionally sliced rather than minced so it gently perfumes the sauce as it braises, rather than ending up mixed through it. Just pick the slices out as you eat, or mince the ginger if you prefer.
Thai Basil – Taiwanese food uses Thai Basil a lot! It is the same basil used in Thai food, like in Thai Basil Chicken. It tastes like Italian basil except it has a slight aniseed flavour to it. But if you don’t have it or can’t find it, don’t worry, you can substitute with regular basil in a pinch (the flavour is close enough) or even green onion cut into batons – sure, it won’t strictly be Three Cup Chicken but it’s still a very tasty chicken dish!
Dried chilli – This is kept whole rather than chopped, so it adds a faint, barely noticeable spiciness. If you don’t have whole chillies, use chilli flakes instead (red pepper flakes). Or, for no spiciness at all, just omit it.
three cup chicken sauce
Here’s what you need for the sauce.
Chinese cooking wine (Shaoxing wine) – or Taiwanese cooking wine which would be the traditional choice if you can find it (mijiu). This brings extra depth of flavour into the sauce, as well as salt. If you’ve ever made a simple stir fry and thought the sauce tasted dull, like it’s missing “something” – a little slosh of cooking wine would fix it. 🙂
Light and dark soy sauce – Light soy brings salt, while dark soy adds colour and richer soy flavour. Dark soy is what stains the chicken that lovely golden colour!
Regular soy can replace light soy. You can also replace dark soy with light or regular soy, though the chicken and sauce will be paler and milder. Don’t replace light soy with dark – it’s far too intense!
Sugar – Three Cup Chicken sauce is a little bit sweet. Some restaurants make it sweeter than others. I use 1 tablespoon which makes it so you can taste a bit of sweetness, but doesn’t make the sauce sweet like, say, Chinese Orange Chicken.
Sesame oil – A distinct flavour in this dish, though subtle! Stir it in at the end because sesame oil loses its aroma when cooked. Be sure to use toasted sesame oil (brown), which has a much stronger flavour than untoasted sesame oil (yellow), the type mostly sold in health food stores in Australia.
How to make Taiwanese Three Cup Chicken
The speed at which this cooks will surprise you – it surprised me! It should not take you more than 10 minutes from start to finish. If it does, it means the chicken has been on the stove longer than necessary and will not be as succulent as it could be.
Mix sauce – Pour the ingredients into a small bowl and give it a quick mix.
Flavour the oil – Heat the oil on medium in a non-stick pan. Then toast the ginger and chillis for 30 seconds to flavour the oil. You don’t want the ginger to go too golden at this stage, else it will burn when searing the chicken (as I found out first hand).
Seal chicken – Turn the heat up to high then add the the chicken and toss for 2 to 3 minutes to seal the surface, but keep it raw on the inside. Once the outside of all the chicken changes from pink to white, add the garlic and toss for another 30 seconds (it will smell amazing because we use lots of it!!)
Add sauce – Pour in the sauce, mix, then bring it to a simmer. Lower the heat to medium high so it’s simmering fairly energetically. Not wildly rapid like boiling water for pasta (sauce will reduce too quickly) but not gently (the sauce will take forever to reduce).
Braise 5 minutes – Simmer for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring every now and then so the chicken gets coated and stained by the sauce, until the sauce reduces down and becomes like a thin syrup. When you drag the spatula across the base of the pan, you should be able to briefly see the base before the sauce covers it back up. By this time, the chicken should also be a lovely golden mahogany colour.
💡 The video is a helpful guide for sauce thickness. Don’t reduce and let it thicken too much yet because it will thicken more (and quickly) in the next step, plus as you serve, and you’ll be left with no sauce! 😢 Though, if it does, just add a splash of water and you’ll resurrect it, so don’t fret!
Finish – Add the sesame oil and basil leaves, then stir for 20 seconds or so just until the basil wilts. And you’re done!
What to serve with Taiwanese Three Cup Chicken
This is quite a strong flavoured dish so serving it with rice is essential, otherwise I think you’ll find it too salty. There’s actually less than 1/4 cup sauce in the pan which I know does not sound like enough to serve 4. But I promise it is, because it’s so concentrated you only need a couple of teaspoons per serving, and there’s sauce coating each piece of chicken too. Spoon the sauce over the chicken then jumble everything together so the rice gets sauced up, then dig in and enjoy!
Add some cherry tomatoes and fresh cucumber slices on the side for a lovely fresh contrast, or for something more substantial a big Asian Slaw or Changs Crispy Noodle Salad. If you want a side of steamed vegetables, my go-to Asian Sesame Dressing goes with “everything”, from broccoli to peas, to sautéed cabbage. Make a big bottle and keep it in your fridge! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Taiwanese Three Cup Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tbsp plain oil – canola , vegetable, peanut
- 600g/1.2 lb chicken thighs , boneless, skinless, cut into 2.5cm/1″ pieces (Note 1)
- 6 slices ginger , ~3mm / 1/8" thick (Note 2)
- 1 1/2 tbsp finely minced garlic , about 5 – 6 cloves (yes, lots!)
- 2 dried red chillies (barely noticeable spicy, but can omit, or sub 1/4 tsp dried chilli flakes)
- 1 1/2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 cup lightly packed Thai basil leaves , substitute regular basil leaves or 2 green onion stems cut into 5cm/2" lengths (Note 3)
Sauce:
- 2 tbsp light soy , or all-purpose soy (Note 4)
- 2 tsp dark soy (Note 4)
- 2 tsp white sugar
- 2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine or Taiwanese rice wine (mijiu) if you can find it, or chicken stock/broth (Note 5)
For serving:
Instructions
ABBREVIATED RECIPE:
- Toast ginger and chilli 30 sec, seal chicken, adding garlic towards end. Add sauce, braise 4 – 5 min until syrupy, stir in sesame oil and basil leaves. Serve!
FULL RECIPE
- Sauce – Mix the ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
- Seal chicken – Heat the oil in a non-stick pan over medium low. Add the ginger and chillies, stir for 30 seconds. Turn heat up to high, add chicken and stir until the surface is changes from pink to white, but it's still raw inside. Add the garlic and stir for another 30 seconds.
- Braise – Add sauce, making sure to scrape out all the sugar from the bowl. Stir, and once it starts bubbling, reduce the heat to medium high or medium so it's simmering fairly rapidly but not wildly – not too low else it will take ages to reduce, not too high else the sauce will reduce too quickly (if it does, add a splash of water). Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring to stain each piece of chicken all over with colour, until the sauce reduces and changes from watery to a thin syrup.
- Finish – Stir in the sesame oil, then the Thai Basil leaves until it wilts (~15 seconds). Serve over rice, making sure you use all the syrup in the pan! (It's intense, so you don't need much)
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Jaffle
Jaffle update: 10% cuteness. 90% fluffy criminal. Progressing just as expected! Eating the house…
Stole dinner….
Tissue monster….
Slipper thief….
And I am not going to show you a photo of what he just did on my white couch…..🤯😩
But then he looks up at me with his sweet little eyes and I just can’t stay mad at him……😖
Happy Bastille Day everyone! Celebrated on Sunday at the Le Marche French Markets at Woolwich dock (Sydney). Music, food, puppy treats! How did I not know about these monthly markets a stone’s throw from my backyard until 4 days ago???
PS The stall behind me makes Flammekeuche which are the deliciously crisp Alsatian flatbreads topped with crème fraîche instead of tomato sauce, often described as French pizza. I looooove them!! Hoping JB will share a recipe soon!
Oh so naughty, but oh SOOoooo adorable!!!
He’s a Chewy Louie! I’m making this tonight, thanks Nagi. For some reason it has been difficult recently to find Thai basil where I live, maybe I will try the “tarragon thing”.
Here I go again with my personalization. Three Cup Chicken looks like the perfect dish for a deep soup bowl, served over fluffy rice to soak up all the sauce. But certain ingredients will be subbed, so not quite the same flavors, but flavors I love:
(1) Pomegranate molasses always, processed sugar never. A tart sensation, less sweet than sugar. I’ll use 1 T.
(2) Caiziyou, probably (IYKYK). But avocado oil in a pinch. NEVER CANOLA, it’s so highly processed!
(3) Dried tarragon subs for any kind of basil — for some reason I’ve been off basil for a while. When you described Thai basil as having a distinctive aniseed flavor, Nagi, I knew that my dried tarragon would work well (my chicken salad is made with it … and with some schmaltz, too).
(4) Just a tip: Buy skin-on, bone-in thighs. Save the bones for stock. Render the skin slowly and gently, cut if you like into generous diamonds — the crispy skins, which should be lightly salted as soon as they’re removed from the pan, are called “gribenes” and I describe them as Ashkenazi chicharrones. When eaten as soon as they cool down enough not to burn your tongue, they literally melt in your mouth. Or they can be chopped and added to chicken, egg, potato dishes … if they don’t get gobbled up. The liquid fat, aka schmaltz, remaining in the pan makes delicious fried … ANYTHING!
Maybe you could start your own blog and list your recipes, health tips and opinions there
I don’t have enough time. That’s why my comments are usually in essay form LOL. I try to be helpful and appreciative. The Comment section is where I find so much helpful information. I’m a student who wants to learn and a teacher who wants to share what I know. But I can’t spend any time blogging. I don’t want what’s left of my time beholden to others. I’m an Aspie (Asperger’s syndrome, autism). I have a lot on my plate, besides food.
Let me guess, self-diagnosed?
Look up sarcasm honey
This is the kind of shit your jobless friend who thinks they are a master chef will say right before serving you the most mid food you’ve ever tasted
Nobody wants your personalisation or “tips”
Why post? Why do we need to read your comments when you totally change a recipe.
No one needs to read my comments unless they choose to. I’m not forcing you. I’m simply replying either directly to Nagi and her team with personal feedback that they might find interesting, or sharing my experience with specific ingredients.
I’m an Aspie (Asperger’s syndrome, autism), and my observations can inspire someone to think differently. I’m not interested in emotional interaction or discussing how adorable Jaffle is (and he is). I’m here for the recipes.
I have a kind of culinary synesthesia, so I’m told. Just yesterday I “invented” a goose liver emulsion using furu (a fermented tofu product available from The Mala Market online that everyone reading this should ABSOLUTELY try) to make a spread that tastes as yummy as the way foie gras tasted before gavage was no longer an option!
Btw, I didn’t “totally change the recipe.” The technique is the same, only the kind of sweetener and the herbal ingredient were subbed. I like tart, not-too-sweet sweetness; I didn’t want basil, couldn’t get Thai basil, but Nagi’s comment about Thai basil’s “distinctive anisette” flavor told me that dried tarragon would be an effective sub.
Hollis, you are really not helping these recipes when you do this. It’s okay to keep these thoughts to yourself or create your own space to share. Please also drop the self diagnosis and just accept that it’s okay to just be a little weird.
Your substitutions suck and are wrong
Caiziyou is literally canola/rapeseed oil so you don’t even know what you are talking about, pomegranate molasses has sugar in it. And all your other substitutions sound gross, you sound like a self absorbed ***hole. And i promise no one cares.
F off with that, no one cares about your personalization or diatribe on flavors YOU like.
If you’re not going to make the recipe, what are you even doing here. Just stop hijacking other people’s blogs for your own rant.
You are going to be shocked when you learn what oil is used as the base for caiziyou.
Tried the original posted recipe and it’s absolutely delicious.
Just for giggles I tried to make this with the “personalization”, and I can tell you with confidence that Hollis either has no taste buds or just hates cooking. This was unappetizing and is being fed to the chickens.
Hollis, you are really not helping these recipes when you do this. It’s okay to keep these thoughts to yourself or create your own space to share. Please also drop the self diagnosis and just accept that it’s okay to just be a little weird.
Hey Hollis, maybe keep it to yourself next time? This is not an appropriate space for your attention-seeking behaviour.
I agree that caiziyou is more authentic, but not easy to access in North America, altho available for order from Mala Market.
LOLOL!! 😂 I’m reading the latest instalment of “Adventures of Jaffle” trying desperately and literally not to laugh out loud. Hubs is still sleeping, trying to hurry the healing of three broken ribs. While I regularly share Jaffle’s exploits, as I did for Dozer’s, this is one I will not share with him. As an aside, he’s already ask those in charge to make sure he comes back as any one of your spoiled furry family members. He’s even promised to be house-trained when he arrives.
He is so adorable Nagi.
Why can’t we ever see how to make the recipe any more?
Oh my, I remember those days. Puppies chewing everything in sight. Forty years later, I still remember the most wonderful pair of high heels ….. in absolute shreds 😭
And thank you, this recipe sounds amazing, can’t wait to make it !
Hi Jaffle, you are a muddy blarvel. Who cares how much of the house you demolish. Dozer would be proud of you – you very own guardian angel. Make sure you look after Nagi and the team.
Lovely dog but you must be aware your house is in danger. But anyway, I admire your patiency and dog love. I don’t mention your wonderful recipes, you give us. Many thanks.
Oh I do not envy you the puppy year! Four years later I still have plastic tubes around all my table legs. It’s all forgotten now!
My Coles seemed a bit low on ingredients tonight, so I had to use jarred ginger. The suggestion to use green onion was handy, I couldn’t get Basil either. But it was a delicious, easy dinner!
Good morning, Nagi!
This recipe is right up my alley, I can tell just by the ingredients that I will be hooked. I love Thai food and Asian food because I can adjust the dishes to my dietary needs. (gluten-free, dairy-free, and low sugar *sigh* because I have an autoimmune disorder). As for Jaffle, he has a bit too much freedom, something I just learned the hard way as well. Unplanned, we took a 5-week-old rescue puppy in, a crime story like so many rescues, and Luna, now seven weeks and fast as a wheasel, has reminded me why we have a doggy play pen in the attic. Also, I just ordered a house leash. Jaffle is beautiful. He will be a very big boy. I am in no position to give you advice, but perhaps this video, which opened my eyes, might be something you want to watch as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJaT_3RB3LU As always: All the best and thank you.
Ah, I’m a Taiwanese origin but left when I was 10 in the late 1980s. I have smelt this dish as street food but never tried this mainly for one reason – rabbit was often used instead of chicken when I was growing up in Taiwan. I had no issues eating rabbit growing up but I had a beautiful pet rabbit given to me and my mum wouldn’t allow me to keep on our apartment balcony so I had to leave it in a cage on our rooftop garden. It was a big mistake, the rabbit went missing straight away overnight 😢. Below our apartment block is a night market…, so I was certain where my rabbit ended up. Because of this I never tried this dish. Now living in Australia may be it’s time to get over it and give this dish a go…with chicken!
This recipe will not be saved to my recipetin faves. Is there a problem with connection. I’ve tried numerous times. Other recipes are saving fine.
I’m really wanting to try it out!
our beautiful, gorgeous fox terrier puppy, Jamie, has an alter ego name. “Little shit!” Especially after we found the toes chewed off our antique claw furniture. I’m sure Jaffles is giving you these moments. Deep breathes, learn to embrace patience. Again, deep breathes~! Oh, the more expensive the shoe, the tastier they are!
our beautiful, gorgeous fox terrier puppy, Jamie, has an alter ego name. “Little shit!” Especially after we found the toes chewed off our antique claw furniture. I’m sure Jaffles is giving you these moments. Deep breathes, learn to embrace patience. Again, deep breathes~!
What a darling Jafflle is, Nagi.
When he looks at you with those huge dark eyes and fluffy paws, you can’t help but melt. Gorgeous!😘😘😍
Jaffle, what a cheeky monkey… I’m sorry about your wall Nagi but how cute is he! He’s grown so much you won’t be able to carry him soon. So glad to see you laughing in a tissue fight 😂 Recipe looks great, will be trying that soon too!
Being Coeliac, would be good to note GF substitutions🍷
I was also just about to comment to ask particularly Nagi (or anyone else!) if you have any recommendations for a gluten free substitution for Chinese cooking wine? Especially found here in Sydney? It’s the main ingredient that still stumps me that I haven’t figured out how to sub.
Use dry sherry
Our puppy was chewing the carpet, a little bit of chilli flakes on the spots soon stopped that😱
Sorry I couldn’t stop laugh when I see you had only one slipper on! you live in a puppy world!lol..