CHINESE THREE CUPS CHICKEN

Today I'd like to share with you one of our family's favorite dishes. A very popular and some would say signature Chinese dish, the "three cups chicken" is known for using three sauces - soy sauce, rice wine, and sesame oil - in equal "cups" (measurements).  For me though, I find it to be a little too oily so I tend to only use half the oil.  

Ingredients

1 - 2 lbs. chicken (I used chopped up chicken drumsticks, but chicken thighs/breasts would work too.)

1/2 C light sodium soy sauce

1/2 C Chinese rice wine

2 T seame oil + 1/4 C  sesame oil

1 T cane sugar or brown sugar

1 tsp. salt

3 red chili peppers (sliced thin)

6 slices of ginger

6 cloves of garlic 

2 C of basil leaves (preferably Thai basil, but regular basil turned out fine too.)

Directions

In a large cast iron pan or wok, heat up 2 T of sesame oil on medium high heat. Evenly sprinkle in the salt and brown the chicken pieces for about 4 min. on each side. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, and sugar. Set aside.

Using the leftover oil in the pan, lower the heat to medium and cook the chili peppers, ginger, and garlic until fragrant. Throw in the chicken and stir them around for about a minute. Pour in the soy sauce mixture and stir well.

Lower the heat to low, cover and simmer the chicken in the sauce for about 20 minutes. Make sure to stir and flip the chicken in between to ensure that the chicken's fully coated with the sauce. Throw the basil in right at the end before turning off the heat. Stir well and serve over steamed rice!

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