tasty version of three cup chicken

Three-Cup Chicken

Serves 4.  I saw this on the NY Times Cooking site.  The name comes from a Taiwanese recipe that calls for 1 c. each of the soy sauce, rice wine and sesame oil.  This is a saner version and gets dinner on the table in about 30 minutes.  I didn’t feel like getting out the wok so I cooked it in a slope-sided heavy skillet.  I liked it served over rice. 

            3 Tbs. sesame oil

            1 2-3” piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into about 12 ‘coins’

            12 cloves garlic, peeled but left whole

            4 whole green onions, trimmed and cut into 1” pieces

            3 dried red peppers or 1 tsp. red-pepper flakes

            2 lbs. boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces

            1 Tbs. brown sugar

            ½ c. rice wine

            ¼ c. light soy sauce

            2 c. fresh Thai basil leaves or regular basil leaves

Heat a wok over high heat, and add 2 Tbs. sesame oil.  When oil shimmers, add ginger, garlic, green onions, and peppers, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Scrape the aromatics to the side, add remaining Tbs. oil and allow to heat through.  Add chicken, and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is browned and crisping at the edges, approximately 5 – 7 minutes.

Add sugar, and stir to combine, then add the rice wine and say sauce, and bring just to a boil.  Lower the heat, then simmer until the sauce has reduced and starts to thicken, about 15 minutes. 

Turn off the heat, add the basil and stir to combine.  Serve over white rice.