Chicken

3-Cup Chicken With Fish Sauce

by:
June  6, 2023
5
1 Ratings
Photo by Jun
  • Prep time 5 minutes
  • Cook time 30 minutes
  • Serves 3 to 4
Author Notes

Three-cup chicken is a classic Taiwanese dish of chicken stewed in a slick, soy-based sauce perfumed by the aroma of ginger, garlic, and basil leaves. The dish is named after the three main components that make up its sauce: light soy sauce, rice wine, and sesame oil.

While not every pot of three-cup chicken calls for a cup each of the three liquids—that will depend on how many you’re cooking for, after all—the name makes it exceedingly easy to remember. Its recipe is really in the name: Just use equal amounts of soy sauce, rice wine, and sesame oil, cook the chicken in it together with the staple ingredients of garlic, ginger, and chiles, finish it with a flurry of Thai basil, and you’ll be able to make this comforting classic at home without ever having to look at a recipe again.

In the handful of times I’ve made this dish, I found myself adding a bit more panache to the classic through a secret fourth ingredient: fish sauce. Stirred into the sauce base, it adds a big boost of umami and lovable funk to the dish. In keeping with the simplicity of the original recipe, I always add in ½ cup of fish sauce, technically making this a three-and-a-half-cup chicken! —Jun

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Ingredients
  • 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil, or any other neutral oil
  • 12 garlic cloves, halved
  • 6 dried red chiles
  • 1 (2-inch piece) ginger, thinly sliced
  • 2 pounds chicken (preferably dark meat), cut into large (2- to 3-inch) chunks
  • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup light soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup Shaoxing wine or rice wine
  • 1/4 cup sesame oil
  • 1/8 cup fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
  • 20 Thai basil leaves, for garnish
Directions
  1. Add vegetable oil into a large frying pan and place over medium heat. Add the garlic, dried chiles, and sliced ginger, and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes, until fragrant. Then, add in the chunks of chicken and sugar and sauté for 6 to 8 minutes, until the sugar caramelizes and the chicken starts to brown.
  2. Transfer into a clay pot or a large casserole, and add in the light soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, sesame oil, fish sauce, and dark soy sauce. Give everything a good stir, cover the pot with a lid and place over medium-low heat, letting it simmer for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through.
  3. When done, remove the lid, stir in the basil, and serve immediately.

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1 Review

brushjl July 31, 2023
Delicious and super easy. I loved the dry chilis.