|
三杯鸡 (SAN BEI JI ) THREE CUPS CHICKEN |
|
|
 So simple. So good. You basically throw all the ingredients in and let it stew down and caramelize (there is not sugar but the soy sauce thickens into a nice glaze). I can’t believe the first time I encountered this dish was in Chunyi Zhou’s cooking class just last year! This recipe is adapted from what I learned. For those of you who are bone and skin averse, just try this once…and have someone else chop up the chicken parts! Once the meat stews down, it slides right off the bone.
Ingredients
|
500g/1 lb
|
chicken drumettes (the fat portion of a wing piece)
|
|
1 inch hunk
|
ginger |
|
1/2 cup
|
spring onion (or basil for Taiwanese style) |
|
1/4 cup
|
soy
|
|
1/4 cup
|
wine (I use a Chinese fermented cooking wine, or Huang Jiu (黄酒), but
I’ve seen white wine and even vodka called
for in other recipes, so it’s safe to assume practically any type of alcohol will do)
|
|
1 Tbsp
|
sesame oil (although the traditional recipe calls for equal parts soy, wine and sesame oil, hence the name three cup chicken, you already have some cooking oil in the pan, the chicken skin also renders out quite a bit of fat when cooking, and sesame oil is a strong flavored oil, so I have reduced it to 1Tbsp in this recipe. If you really like the sesame fragrance, you can add increase this amount.
|
|
cooking oil |
Preparation
With a cleaver, hack the drumettes (or have your butcher do it) into small pieces (for better flavor); I usually chop small pieces in two and larger pieces into three. Slice ginger thinly. Cut spring onions into 1 inch pieces at a diagonal. If using basil instead, break stems into bite size pieces.
Heat the oil in your wok until very hot. Add chicken pieces and fry until just beginning to brown. Add ginger slices and cook more until fragrant.
Add soy, wine, and sesame oil; cover and simmer for about 10 minutes (you might check it about half way and give the chicken a stir), or until liquid has mostly reduced. When nearly dry, add scallions or basil, toss and cover for one more minute. Remove from heat and serve. If the chicken has rendered out a lot of oil, you should pour off the fat before moving to serving dish, or simply use a slotted spoon to remove the chicken.
|
