Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Taiwanese Stewed Chicken, with a twist (三杯鸡)


This week of mine started with a sprained shoulder. My back was not feeling right throughout the night which resulted in a really bad rest. When I woke up on Monday morning, the pain got worse and the neck was stiffer and stiffer until I could barely turn my head. I knew it came back again. This was not my first time spraining the same spot. Still feeling pain after 2 days but it is a lot better now.

Today's recipe is a Taiwanese dish which I think almost every Taiwanese family knows how to prepare. I have never tasted the authentic 三杯鸡 so this is my version after referring to a few recipe books. Accoridng to a Taiwanese friend whom I shared the same apartment with during the university days, there were many versions of 三杯鸡 but the traditional way of making 三杯鸡 was to cook the chicken in 1 cup of sesame oil, 1 cup of Chinese cooking wine and 1 cup of light soy sauce (hence 三杯 which means 3 cups) together with other ingredients like ginger, spring onions and basil leaves until the gravy thickened. Guess mine is a simplified version.


Taiwanese Stewed Chicken, with a twist (三杯鸡)
Serves 6

Ingredients:
1 kampung (free-range) chicken, chopped into pieces
2 chili, seeded and sliced
3 slices ginger

3 stalks spring onions, cut into 3-4 cm lengths
3 tbsp cooking oil
200ml water
20g Thai basil leaves

Marinade:
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp Kikkoman Soy Sauce (or other brands)

Seasoning:
1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
1 tbsp black vinegar
Sesame oil to taste
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt or to taste



Method:
  1. In a bowl, marinade chicken with cornstarch and soy sauce for at least 1 hour.
  2. Heat oil in a wok or pan until smoky hot. Fry chili, ginger and spring onions until fragrant.
  3. Add in chicken and continue to fry. Add Chinese cooking wine.
  4. Pour in water. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until meat is tender. Add water if required.
  5. Add in black vinegar, sesame oil and taste with sugar and salt.
  6. Add basil leaves and give the dish a quick stir. Dish out and serve hot with white rice.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hope u get well soon.

Jo said...

Hi Evie,
Thank so much for your kind words. My shoulder is much better now. It has to be because I needed to conduct a cake deco class for the whole full weekend out of town. Luckily it didn't give me any problem despite the long hours :)

pingmouse said...

hi jo, is this also called 3cups chicken? I found one recipe frm a blog and it actually tastes good. I cook it at least 2x a month. Easy to prepare. Will try your version soon :)

Little Corner of Mine said...

Jo,
I find your 3 cups chicken recipe twist out of original already. Because your recipe doesn't has the three main ingredients, sesame oil, chinese rice wine and soy sauce! You used sugar and salt as seasonings instead. I think it should be named something else. I was just puzzled when I read your recipe so wanted to let you know. :P

Jo said...

Hi Ching, thanks for the note. It was a really twisted version huh. Was thinking for so long for another name but couldn't get anything. Will see what come out in my mind later. Thanks.

Jo said...

Thanks Ching for pointing out. I went back to my notes and found that I left a few more seasonings. Edited the recipe already. Guess th black vinegar part is not so authetic :)

Anonymous said...

It called san pei ci here in Taiwan. We use black sesame oil to fry ginger and garlic, no vegetable oil needed. Some restaurant added roasted peanut too.

Jo said...

Thanks Fanny for sharing.