In Chinese, it is written 三杯雞, and pronounced “San Bei Ji” (San = three, Bei = cup, Ji = Chicken).

Asian food can seem intimidating to make, but many fragrant dishes are really easy as long as you have the right seasonings on hand.  This is one of my favorite weekday meals because the ingredients are relatively cheap and easy to find, yet still so delicious.  It is a one-pot meal, so there is less clean-up, and it only takes 30 minutes to make, with virtually no prep-work.

It is called three cup chicken because it uses equal parts rice wine, soy sauce, and sesame oil.  I like to use boneless, skinless chicken thighs, but you can use any part of the chicken you wish. It’s traditionally made with bone-in chicken.

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Ingredients

– 8-10 chicken thighs
– 10 slices ginger
– 10 garlic cloves, sliced or minced
– 1/4 cup rice wine
– 1/4 cup dark soy sauce (regular soy sauce is ok too)
– 1/4 cup sesame oil
– 3 TB sugar
– 1 large bunch Thai basil

Directions

Heat half the sesame oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet (I like using my cast iron skillet, wok, or dutch oven).  Stir fry the garlic and ginger until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add chicken, and cook until browned on all sides.  Add in the rice wine, soy sauce, remaining sesame oil, and sugar.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a medium-low and allow to simmer (uncovered).  Simmer uncovered for 15-20 minutes, reducing most of the liquid until it’s a syrupy consistency.  At the end, add basil leaves and stir until wilted.  Serve over rice.