Taiwanese Three Cup Chicken

Difficulty Level: Easy

Cooking Time: 30 mins

Serves: 3-4 people

Main Ingredients

• 600g chicken drumettes
• 15-20 cloves garlic (peeled)
• 1 small ginger (sliced)
• 1 cup fresh Thai basil leaves

For Sauce

• ⅓ cup Yeo’s Light Soy Sauce
• ⅓ cup Yeo’s Pure Sesame Oil
• ⅓ cup rice wine
• 3 tbsp rock sugar
• 3 bird’s eye chillies (optional)

To Cook

1. Heat oil in a large wok or claypot, and then add garlic and ginger. Stir fry for about 1 min.
2. Add chicken and continue to cook the chicken on medium heat for about 10 mins until it is browned on all sides.
3. Stir in all the sauce ingredients, let it simmer for 20 mins for the sauce to evaporate and thicken. The sauce should have a velvety coat around the chicken.
4. Add basil in and let it simmer for 2 min with the lid on.
5. Dish out and serve with a hot bowl of rice.

All about San Bei Ji

What is San Bei Ji?

Sanbeiji, literally “three-cup chicken”, is probably the most popular and loved dish in Taiwan.

Sanbeiji is a strong, salty, and savory braised chicken recipe, which gets its specific flavor from the larger volume of garlic, pieces of ginger, and fresh basil leaves.

What is the origin of San Bei Ji?

It appears that san bei ji originated in the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279 AD). Wen Tianxiang was a national hero, prominent writer and military general who was famous for his loyalty and heroism.

The popular chicken recipe actually originates from the Jiangxi province of southern China, and more specifically of the county of Ningdu. It has since become a staple of Taiwanese cuisine.

The eponymous “cups” in the name of the recipe is a reference to the equal parts of soy sauce, sesame oil, and rice vinegar that are used to make it.