Three Cup Chicken (San Bei Ji) | Recipe

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double cup love?

what about triple cup love.

If I had to name a recipe that described my brother, it would probably be Taiwanese Three Cup Chicken. He usually has a rotation of different recipes in rotation for his prep meals during the week, but when he started living in NYC he only made Three Cup Chicken— every day, for over a month. And it’s easy to see why he did, it’s a simple and fast dish to make, it’s delicious and healthy (he used chicken breasts for his meal prep, but wings + thighs are where it’s at). He eventually did get sick of Three Cup Chicken and had to take some time off of it, but as long as you don’t do a month straight of Three Cup Chicken you should be good with this recipe.

So if you’re looking for an easy, savory yet slightly sweet addictive weeknight dinner— we gotchu. The chicken is tender and juicy from the low simmer coated in a sticky, dark syrup with roasted garlic that you can eat whole (perfect for date night breath).

What’s in it

I fuckin love this stuff (preserved mustard)

I fuckin love this stuff (preserved mustard)

  1. 8-10 chicken wings/drums or similar amount of chicken thighs

  2. 1 whole garlic clove (use cloves whole)

  3. 1 tbsp honey

  4. 2 Thai chilis for spice, chopped (optional)

  5. 3 slices of ginger minced

  6. 1/3 cup soy sauce

  7. 1/3 cup sesame oil

  8. 1/3 cup shao xing wine

  9. 1 tsp dark soy sauce

  10. 1 tbsp chopped preserved mustard greens (optional, but encouraged)

  11. pinch of five spice

  12. 4-5 dried chilis

  13. 2 tbsp neutral oil

  14. 7-8 Thai basil leaves

How to do it

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  1. Heat wok with oil to medium low heat. Add garlic, ginger, mustard greens, + chilis for a minute.

  2. Turn heat to medium high and add chicken to your wok, make sure you don’t crowd the chicken and it has enough space for each piece in the wok. Sear the chicken until it’s light brown in color, add sesame oil, shao xing, both soy sauces, honey + five spice.

  3. Turn the heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally or until the sauce has reduced and has thickened to a beautiful brown sticky glaze over your chicken.

  4. Add in the basil and quickly stir fry on medium heat for 30-40 seconds. Serve on a bed of fluffy rice!

RecipesNom Lifethree cup chicken, taiwanese, taiwanese food, 3 cup chicken, san bei ji