Three Cup Chicken

Three Cup Chicken – a classic Chinese staple! Tender chicken cooked in a sweet and savory glaze made with sesame oil, soy sauce and Shaoxing wine. Skip the restaurant and make your own at home.

If you’ve never heard of Three Cup Chicken before, listen up! It’s such an easy and flavorful dish, regardless of if you’ve tasted it before or not. I guarantee you’re going to love it! Made with Asian staples, you’ll be drooling over the delicious sweet and savory glaze that coats the chicken.

Tender chicken cooked with fresh, aromatic garlic and ginger, coated in a homemade toasted sesame oil, Shaoxing wine, brown sugar and soy sauce glaze. The entire dish is then amplified with fresh basil and served over rice. There’s no need to go out for dinner anymore when you can have this comforting restaurant staple at home!

What is three cup chicken?

Three cup chicken, also known as “Sanbeiji” is an iconic chicken dish in Chinese cuisine, especially popular in Taiwan. The name three cup chicken derives from the three key ingredients in the sauce of the recipe: Sesame oil, Chinese rice wine, and soy sauce! The “Cup” portion or the name refers to the equal ratio of ingredients in the sauce, (with a little wiggle room) instead of a literal measurement of “three cups” – if we were taking the “three cup” term literally, it would make enough for an army!

Ingredients

• Chicken – You’ll want boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces. Chicken breast can be used as well.
• Baking Soda – This is going to help tenderize our chicken!
• Toasted Sesame Oil – The flavor is more intense than a regular sesame oil. Regular will work as well, but if you can get your hands on toasted, it’s a game changer!
• Ginger – I used fresh ginger, minced!
• Garlic – Fresh is best! Crushed and halved.
• Cornstarch – This is to help thicken up our sauce!
• Basil leaves – Usually Thai basil leaves are used but I only had Italian basil and that works too.
• Water – For the cornstarch slurry.

Sauce

• Shaoxing Wine – A staple in Chinese food! (read the section below for substitutions & to learn more about it).
• Soy Sauce – I used both, low sodium and dark soy sauce. I like to add dark soy sauce to darken the stir fry a bit, so it’s mostly for color. If you can’t find dark soy sauce, just add a bit more soy sauce to the mix!
• Brown Sugar – For a little added sweetness. The brown sugar will help balance the flavor in the sauce!
• Toasted Sesame Oil – Regular sesame oil will work as well, but if you can get your hands on toasted, it’s a game changer!

How to make three cup chicken

1. Prep Chicken: Toss the chicken pieces together with the baking soda and set aside for 10 minutes. Rinse the chicken with water to wash away the baking soda. Pat dry the chicken with paper towels.
2. Make the Sauce: In a small bowl, mix the sauce ingredients; shaoxing wine, soy sauce, dark soy sauce and brown sugar, don’t add the sesame oil yet.
3. Cook: Add the two tbsp of sesame oil to a wok and heat over high medium-high heat. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for about a minute until aromatic. Add in the chicken and toss. Stir fry the chicken for about 4 minutes or until no longer pink and starts to lightly brown.
4. Thicken: Pour the sauce over the chicken and reduce the heat to medium. Cover with a lid and cook for 10 minutes. Make a slurry with the cornstarch and water and add to the wok and stir. The sauce should thicken almost immediately. Drizzle the remaining tbsp of sesame oil over the chicken.
5. Finish & Serve: Add the basil leaves and stir well with the chicken. Serve immediately over cooked rice.

Shaoxing Wine

Shaoxing wine is perhaps the most commonly used ingredients in Chinese cuisine, it is such a staple because of how much depth and flavor complexity it adds to a dish! If you’ve ever wondered why your homemade Chinese food doesn’t taste exactly like what you’d get at a restaurant, this cooking wine may be the key missing element! One of the oldest forms of rice wine in China, with a production process involving fermenting rice, water, and a small amount of wheat to create a dark amber color, with a mildly sweet, fragrant aroma.

Where do I find it?

Shaoxing wine can be commonly found at any Chinese grocery store, and if you want to cook a lot of Asian dishes at home, I highly suggest purchasing a bottle!

Substitutions for Shaoxing wine

However, if you truly can’t locate it or want a quick substitution for this recipe, here are some options:

• Dry sherry – This is the most commonly used substitution! Any dry sherry will do.
• Mirin – A Japanese sweet cooking wine.
• Cooking Sake / Japanese Rice Wine – This is a bit lighter in flavor than a typical Chinese cooking wine, but is an acceptable substitute.

The baking soda trick

Baking soda will help keep your meat tender and juicy! You can actually use baking soda on any beef and pork too and it will tenderize it nicely. You can skip this step, but prepping your chicken with the baking soda beforehand will really make this chicken irresistible.

Serving your chicken

Three cup chicken is best as a main course, served over a hot bowl of steamed rice! Noodles, zoodles or vegetables like bok choy are great options as well.

Storing Leftovers

This will last 3–4 days in the fridge when stored in an airtight container! You can reheat it either in the microwave, or covered in a pan over medium heat.

Freezing

If you want to keep leftovers longer, pop them into an airtight container and place in the freezer. Your leftover stir fry will keep for 3–4 months in the freezer.

Here Are A Few More Asian Recipes You’ll Love

• Sesame Chicken
• Ginger Beef
• Easy Chicken Stir Fry
• Asian Style Udon Noodles with Pork and Mushrooms
• Tofu Drunken Noodles
• Hunan Chicken
• Chinese Lemon Chicken
• Yakisoba
• Spicy Peanut Noodle
• Korean Fried Chicken
• Chicken Ramen Stir Fry

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4.67 from 45 votes

Three Cup Chicken

Prep 20 minutes minutes

Cook 20 minutes minutes

Total 40 minutes minutes

6

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Three Cup Chicken – a classic Chinese staple! Tender chicken cooked in a sweet and savory glaze made with sesame oil, soy sauce and Shaoxing wine. Skip the restaurant and make your own at home.

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Ingredients

• ▢ 2 pound chicken thighs (boneless and skinless, cut into bite size pieces)
• ▢ 1 tablespoon baking soda
• ▢ 2 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• ▢ 1 tablespoon fresh ginger (minced)
• ▢ 8 cloves garlic (halved)
• ▢ 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• ▢ 1 tablespoon water
• ▢ 1 bunch Thai basil leaves

Sauce

• ▢ ¼ cup shaoxing wine
• ▢ ¼ cup soy sauce
• ▢ 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
• ▢ t tablespoon brown sugar
• ▢ 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.

Instructions 

• Prep Chicken: Toss the chicken pieces together with the baking soda and set aside for 10 minutes. Rinse the chicken with water to wash away the baking soda. Pat dry the chicken with paper towels.
• Make the Sauce: In a small bowl, mix the sauce ingredients; shaoxing wine, soy sauce, dark soy sauce and brown sugar, don't add the sesame oil yet.
• Cook: Add the two tbsp of sesame oil to a wok and heat over high medium-high heat. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for about a minute until aromatic. Add in the chicken and toss. Stir fry the chicken for about 4 minutes or until no longer pink and starts to lightly brown.
• Thicken: Pour the sauce over the chicken and reduce the heat to medium. Cover with a lid and cook for 10 minutes. Make a slurry with the cornstarch and water and add to the wok and stir. The sauce should thicken almost immediately. Drizzle the remaining tbsp of sesame oil over the chicken.
• Finish & Serve: Add the basil leaves and stir well with the chicken. Serve immediately over cooked rice.

Equipment

• Nonstick Chinese Wok – Dishwasher Safe

Notes

1. This will last 3–4 days in the fridge when stored in an airtight container! You can reheat it either in the microwave, or covered in a pan over medium heat.
2. If you want to keep leftovers longer, pop them into an airtight container and place in the freezer. Your leftover stir fry will keep for 3–4 months in the freezer.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 426kcal (21%)Carbohydrates: 5g (2%)Protein: 26g (52%)Fat: 32g (49%)Saturated Fat: 8g (50%)Cholesterol: 148mg (49%)Sodium: 1187mg (52%)Potassium: 351mg (10%)Fiber: 1g (4%)Sugar: 1g (1%)Vitamin A: 118IU (2%)Vitamin C: 1mg (1%)Calcium: 21mg (2%)Iron: 1mg (6%)

Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.