Looking for something different when it comes to making chicken for dinner? Then you should definitely make three cup chicken. It’s a famous Taiwanese dish that has a heavenly aroma and an even more mouthwatering flavor. Traditionally, three cup chicken is made with an entire chicken, carved-up, bone-in, and skin-on. It’s braised in a sweet and savory broth until it gets a nice, sticky glaze. Then, fresh basil is added for the finishing touch. I’ve found a way to preserve this authentic flavor while using a simpler cut of chicken – the wings – to recreate it for any night of the week.
What is three up chicken
Why is it called three cup chicken? That’s because three of the main ingredients were 1-cup in measurement. Traditionally, there was one cup of soy sauce, one cup of Shaoxing wine, and 1 cup of oil all used to braise the three cup chicken. The modern approach uses basil to provide a divine way to elevate the aroma of this dish for a more fragrant experience. My recipe uses the modern approach. This will taste just like a dish from the best Chinese restaurant around and the aroma will have you swooning as it cooks.
Ingredients
Believe it or not, three cup chicken uses less than ten ingredients, most of which you should have in your pantry already. Your table should look like the picture below when you’re ready to cook.
Cooking process
When the three cup chicken is finished cooking, you will have flavorful chicken with chewy-textured skin and a savory-sweet sticky glaze that will have you licking every last bit off your fingertips. The active cooking time is really short, too, so you can make this even after a busy day. Would you rather avoid lifting a finger on a weeknight? Prep this a day ahead and you’ll have an amazing meal just waiting to reward you at the end of your day! Want to learn more about Chinese Cooking? Sign up my newsletter to receive the 5-Day Chinese Cooking Crash Course and recipe update! If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it @omnivorescookbook on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.
Other dishes to serve with three cup chicken
Blistered Shishito Peppers20 Quick and Easy Asian Side DishesFire Roasted Eggplant with Garlic Vinegar SauceSpicy Rice Noodle SaladChoy Sum with Garlic Sauce
Lilja Walter is a part of the Omnivore’s Cookbook team and worked closely with Maggie to develop and test this recipe.
