Three-cup chicken

Name: Three-cup chicken
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4 people
Cuisine: Taiwanese
Ingredients: 900 g Chicken, bone-in thighs, chopped through the bone into 4 cm pieces; or boneless thigh in chunks; 4 tbsp Toasted sesame oil, toasted; 4 tbsp Soy sauce; 1 tsp Dark soy sauce; 120 ml Shaoxing wine, or Taiwanese michiu; 1.5 tbsp Sugar, rock sugar, crushed; 60 g Ginger, sliced into thick coins, skin on; 12 clove Garlic, whole, peeled; 2 piece Fresh chilli, red, sliced on the diagonal; 3 piece Spring onion, cut into 4 cm lengths; 50 g Thai basil, leaves only, two big handfuls; 1 tbsp Neutral oil

三杯雞

Taiwanese three-cup chicken: chicken braised in sesame oil, soy and rice wine with whole garlic, thick ginger and a mound of Thai basil.

Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen. Native name preserved: 三杯雞.

Start cooking

Prep: 15 min
Cook: 30 min
Rest: None
Total: 45 min
Difficulty: Easy
Spice: Mild
Cost: Weeknight budget$8–16 USD · indicative, not a store price

Know it before you cook it

About

San bei ji, three-cup chicken, is named for its sauce: a cup each of sesame oil, soy sauce and rice wine in the original telling, though nobody uses those proportions now. Chicken thigh on the bone is chopped into chunks and fried in sesame oil with thick slices of ginger and whole peeled garlic cloves until the ginger crisps, then braised with soy, rice wine and rock sugar until the liquid reduces to a dark glaze. At the end, the heat goes off, a big handful of Thai basil goes in, the lid goes on, and the steam wilts the basil in thirty seconds. Traditionally cooked and served in a clay pot. A Dutch oven or a wok with a lid is fine.

What you'll need

12 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.

0 of 12 ready

4 servings

Ingredients

Servings

Chicken, bone-in thighs, chopped through the bone into 4 cm pieces; or boneless thigh in chunks900 g
Toasted sesame oil, toasted59 ml
Soy sauce59 ml
Dark soy sauce4.9 ml
Shaoxing wine, or Taiwanese michiu120 ml
Sugar, rock sugar, crushed22 ml
Ginger, sliced into thick coins, skin on60 g
Garlic, whole, peeled12 clove
Fresh chilli, red, sliced on the diagonal (optional)2
Spring onion, cut into 4 cm lengths3
Thai basil, leaves only, two big handfuls50 g
Neutral oil15 ml

Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.

Steps

Step 1
Pat the chicken dry. Heat the vegetable oil and half the sesame oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat and fry the ginger slices slowly until their edges shrivel and brown, 4 minutes. Add the garlic cloves and fry until golden, 2 minutes.
6 min
Tip: Low and slow here. Toasted sesame oil burns and turns bitter on high heat.
Step 2
Turn the heat up. Add the chicken skin side down and brown without moving it for 4 minutes, then turn and brown the other side.
8 min
Step 3
Add soy, dark soy, Shaoxing and rock sugar. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer 12 minutes.
12 min
Step 4
Remove the lid, add chilli and spring onion, and boil hard, turning the chicken, until the liquid reduces to a glossy glaze that coats the pieces, 5 to 6 minutes.
6 min
Watch: Watch the last minute. Once the sugar concentrates it can catch on the bottom.
Step 5
Turn off the heat. Pour over the remaining sesame oil, pile the basil on top, and clamp the lid on for 30 seconds. Stir once and serve straight from the pot with rice.
1 min

Nutrition

Per serving · estimate

Calories: 573 kcal
Protein: 73.1 g
Carbs: 14.1 g
Fat: 23.5 g
Saturated fat: 4.3 g
Fibre: 1.1 g
Sugar: 6 g
Sodium: 1296 mg

Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.

Allergens

Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.

Soy
Wheat
Sesame

Dairy-free

Adapt this recipe

The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.

Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 13 November.

Substitutions

Thai basil → Italian basil
Sweeter and softer without the anise edge. Use the same amount and add it the same way.

Tips

Bone-in pieces chopped with a cleaver are the Taiwanese way and the bones enrich the glaze. Ask the butcher to chop them.
The garlic cloves should be soft and sweet by the end. Eat them.
Swap the chicken for 500 g king oyster mushrooms cut into chunks for a well-known vegetarian version; braise 8 minutes instead of 12.

History & culture

A restaurant and home classic across Taiwan, ordered as one of several shared plates to go with rice. It is also the template for three-cup squid, mushrooms and the famously chewy three-cup king oyster mushroom. Hot pot shops and beer houses serve it; so do grandmothers. The smell of basil hitting sesame oil is, for many Taiwanese, the smell of dinner.

The three-cup method comes from Jiangxi province in southern China, and the story that it was first cooked for a condemned Song dynasty official is folklore. Taiwanese cooks changed the dish decisively by adding Thai basil, which grows abundantly on the island, and by using more sesame oil and rice wine. It is now considered Taiwanese rather than Jiangxi food.

Traditional — Taiwanese michiu rice wine is the local choice; Shaoxing is the available substitute and tastes slightly more aged. Bone-in chopped chicken is traditional and gives a better sauce.

Provenance: Editorial adaptation.

Questions about this recipe

Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.

How long does Three-cup chicken take?

45 min all in — 15 min prep, 30 min cook. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.

How many does it serve?

The recipe is written for 4 people. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.

How hard is it?

Easy.

How spicy is it?

Mild.

What allergens should I watch?

This recipe is labelled for Soy, Wheat, Sesame. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.

Does it fit a diet?

The published recipe is labelled Dairy-free.

11 more questions

What does it cost to cook?

Weeknight budget — about $8–16 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.

What equipment do I need?

Dutch oven, Chef's knife.

How much salt do I put in?

This recipe does not list salt as its own ingredient. Saltiness comes from Soy sauce — 4 tbsp; Dark soy sauce — 1 tsp. Taste at the end rather than adding a number we did not write.

How much toasted sesame oil?

4 tbsp (toasted) of Toasted sesame oil.

How much soy sauce?

4 tbsp of Soy sauce.

How much dark soy sauce?

1 tsp of Dark soy sauce.

How much sugar?

1½ tbsp (rock sugar, crushed) of Sugar.

What can I use instead?

Thai basil → Italian basil. Sweeter and softer without the anise edge. Use the same amount and add it the same way.

What should I watch for?

Watch the last minute. Once the sugar concentrates it can catch on the bottom.

Any tips from this recipe?

Bone-in pieces chopped with a cleaver are the Taiwanese way and the bones enrich the glaze. Ask the butcher to chop them. The garlic cloves should be soft and sweet by the end. Eat them. Swap the chicken for 500 g king oyster mushrooms cut into chunks for a well-known vegetarian version; braise 8 minutes instead of 12.

Can I use an air fryer?

This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.