• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Umami Days

Umami Days

Meaty with a dash of veggies

  • Recipes
    • By meal
      • Breakfast
      • Lunch / dinner
      • Snacks
    • By main ingredient
      • Poultry
      • Meat
      • Seafood
      • Eggs
      • Mushrooms
      • Tofu
      • Vegetables
    • By carb
      • Rice
      • Noodles
      • Bread
  • Kitchen
    • Kitchen how-tos
    • Cooking ingredients
    • Kitchen tools
  • Food Tales
    • Edible Garden
    • Dining
  • Newsletter
  • Recipes
    • By meal
      • Breakfast
      • Lunch / dinner
      • Snacks
    • By main ingredient
      • Poultry
      • Meat
      • Seafood
      • Eggs
      • Mushrooms
      • Tofu
      • Vegetables
    • By carb
      • Rice
      • Noodles
      • Bread
  • Kitchen
    • Kitchen how-tos
    • Cooking ingredients
    • Kitchen tools
  • Food Tales
    • Edible Garden
    • Dining
  • Newsletter

Three-cup chicken

11.15.2017 (Updated: 03.03.2025) in Lunch / Dinner, Main Courses

Three-cup chicken derives its name from the three liquid ingredients in which it is cooked — a cup each of sesame seed oil, Shaoxing rice wine and soy sauce.

Three-cup chicken in serving bowl

A whole cup of oil? Yes, I know, that sounds excessive. That’s why modern recipes of three-cup chicken don’t follow the old ratio. The Shaoxing rice wine is sometimes replaced with sweet rice wine like mirin or sake which gives the dish a flavor reminiscent of Japanese teriyaki.

This lovely chicken dish is considered a classic Taiwanese dish but, like many Taiwanese food, three-cup chicken, or san bei ji, originated in China. Where exactly is a matter of debate.

There are many stories that range from peasants making use of puny chickens to a prison guard cooking with limited ingredients the last meal of Wen Tianxiang, a hero of the Song dynasty.

Sauteeing chilies, garlic, ginger and cubed chicken thigh fillets

Unlike many dishes where sesame seed oil is drizzled in after the dish is cooked, in the case of three-cup chicken, the spices are sauteed in sesame seed oil. Ginger, chilies garlic are cooked slowly until the oil soaks up their flavors.

The heat is turned up, cubed chicken fillets are added to the chilies, ginger and garlic, and everything is stir fried just until the chicken meat loses its raw appearance.

Pouring soy sauce and Shaoxing rice wine into pan with chicken

Once the chicken chicken meat is no longer pink, soy sauce and rice wine are poured in, and the braising begins.

Adding basil leaves to three-cup chicken in wok

The garnish of Thai basil leaves toward the end of cooking gives the chicken dish a lovely floral flavor and aroma. I’ll repeat that — Thai basil — and not the sweet basil used for Italian cooking. Thai basil can be cooked without losing its flavor.

Three-cup chicken in serving bowl
Three-cup chicken (san bei ji)
Connie Veneracion
Thigh fillets or breast fillets? In Asia, thigh fillets are the default for dishes that call for fillets. Tastier and more moist.
Prep Time 5 minutes mins
Cook Time 30 minutes mins
Total Time 35 minutes mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Chinese, Taiwanese
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 700 grams chicken thigh fillets cut into 1 ½ inch cubes
  • 3 tablespoons sesame seed oil
  • 1 one-inch knob ginger peeled and thinly sliced
  • 6 cloves garlic peeled and lightly pounded
  • 2 chilies or one teaspoon dried chili flakes
  • 6 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 4 tablespoons Shaoxing rice wine
  • 1 large handful Thai basil leaves

Instructions
 

  • Heat the sesame seed oil in a large frying pan.
  • Saute the chilies, ginger and garlic.
  • Turn up the heat to medium-high.
  • Lay the chicken cubes in a single layer on the hot oil.
  • Cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is no longer pink.
  • Pour in the soy sauce and Shaoxing rice wine.
  • Turn the heat to low, cover the pan and braise the chicken for about 10 minutes. Taste the sauce occasionally; you may need to add more soy sauce.
  • Turn up the heat. Stir in half of the Thai basil.
  • Continue cooking the chicken, uncovered, until the sauce is thickened and reduced.
  • Add the rest of the basil leaves. Cook for another minute.
  • Serve the three-cup chicken with rice.
Pin Send Print

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, the blog owner earns commission from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

In the spotlight

Fish head soup with coconut cream

Fish head soup with coconut cream

Coconut tree

A guide to coconuts for eating, drinking and cooking

Salmon trimmings with soy honey sauce served with scrambled egg over rice

Salmon trimmings with soy honey ginger sauce

Inside a Chicken, gravy and mashed potato casserole

Chicken, gravy and mashed potato casserole

Shrimp spring rolls

Hungry for more?

Subscribe to the newsletter to get the latest posts in your inbox.

No spam. Read the privacy policy.

More Chicken, Poultry

Chicken katsu curry rice bowl

Chicken katsu curry

Chili Peanut Sesame Chicken Recipe

Chili peanut sesame chicken

Sesame chicken sprinkled with scallions served over rice

Sesame chicken

Five-spice fried chicken wings with peanut glaze

Peanut-glazed five-spice fried chicken wings

Sidebar

Connie Veneracion, 2020

Hi, I’m Connie!

Home cook and writer by passion, photographer by necessity, and good food, coffee and wine lover forever. I write recipes, cooking tips and food stories. No AI is used in creating content for this blog.

More about me and Umami Days.

  • About
  • Privacy
  • Copyright
  • No AI
  • Contact

Created by a human for humans · Copyright © 2025 Connie Veneracion · All Rights Reserved