Taiwanese 3 Cup Chicken with Steamed Sesame Broccoli

The 3 cups in this dish refers to the main 3 ingredients to make the sauce: rice wine, soy sauce and sesame oil, all of which you need 1 cup each. That would be for a massive amount of chicken though. Nowadays most recipes are for 2 – 4 people and the ingredients are much less.

Whatever the amount (a boat load of chicken, or just enough for 2), this way of preparing chicken is amazing. First you flavour the oil by adding ginger, dried chili’s and garlic. Then you add the chicken and sear on all sides. I used chicken thighs but wings or drumsticks with skin on would be great too. Deglaze the hot pan with a splash of warm water, scraping all the goodness from the bottom of the pan. Add sesame oil, dark and light soy sauce, rice wine (or dry sherry) and a pinch of sugar, bring to a simmer and cover with a lid. Let the chicken stew on low heat in the sauce, after 20 minutes remove the lid and turn the heat up reducing the sauce to a sticky consistency (± 4 minutes). At the last minute add spring onions or Thais Basil (or both) and serve straight away with some steamed rice and veggies. Delish!

Recipe inspired by @thewoksoflife

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Taiwanese 3 Cup Chicken with Steamed Sesame Broccoli

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Dinner, lunch – Taiwanese, Asian, Chinese

By Saffron & The Woks of Life – Serves: 2

Prep Time: 5 minutes – Cooking Time: 25 minutes – Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 6 slices ginger, peeled
• 5 cloves garlic (sliced)
• 2-3 dried chili (halved, seeds removed if you like it less spicy)
• 400 - 500 kg chicken thighs, halved lengthwise (see notes)
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
• 4 tsp dark soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons sugar (or more to taste)
• Small bunch of Thai basil leaves or 4 spring onions cut into 3 cm lengths (or both)
• To serve
• Steamed white rice
• Steamed broccoli or other vegetables

Instructions

1

Start by prepping the sauce, in a small bowl add the shaoxing wine, dark and light soy sauce, and the sugar. Set aside.

2

In a hot wok add the sesame and vegetable oil.

3

When hot, add the garlic, ginger and chili and on medium heat let the flavours infuse the oil, ± 2 minutes.

4

Turn up the heat to high and add the chicken, all in 1 layer, searing on all sides until golden brown.

5

Deglaze the pan 1/4 cup of warm water, scraping all the goodness from the bottom of the pan. Then add the sauce mix you made earlier.

6

Stir, bring to a simmer and cover with a lid. Let simmer away on low-medium heat until the chicken is cooked through.

7

In the meantime make your rice and steamed vegetables. The broccoli I steamed for 6-7 minutes and then I drizzled some sesame oil and light soy sauce over the top. That's all you need!

8

After ± 15 minutes, remove the lid from the pan and turn up the heat.

9

Let the sauce reduce down into a sticky consistency, ± 4 minutes. Keep stirring so it doesn't burn.

10

Add the spring onions and / or the Thai basil, cook along for ± 1 minute and then serve!

Notes

I used chicken thighs but drumsticks and / or chicken wings are great too! If using, increase the cooking time to 20 minutes instead of 15.