Three-Cup Chicken Recipe (2024)

I made this exactly as the recipe instructs (because that's how I cook; try it as written first and then "riff" later if I feel it's merited) and it was superb. I brought it to a Lunar New Year party and some Taiwanese guests tried it and then bogarted the whole pot because they said it was authentic and delicious. The key is dark meat, they said. Try not to use boned chicken thighs because boning the thighs yourself ensures a fresher tasting dish.

Just made this with 2 lbs. boneless skinless thighs. Julienned the ginger; removed that and whole garlic before stir-frying chicken in 3 batches. This kept it from steaming. Then returned all the chicken along with the ginger and garlic to the wok, added the sugar, and magic happened. Added a bit of corn starch in water to thicken the sauce. Saved the scallions for the final moments, along with the Thai basil. Excellent with jasmine rice and green beans tossed with hoisin.

Hey Pat, it's only food. The NYTimes cooking site seems to be a tool for amateurs who might be serious about what they cook. It isn't perfect.
I just made this recipe and am eating it as we speak. I used whole dried peppers which gave it a nice bite and it wasn't too sweet which is what my Taiwanese American daghter in law had warned me about. It wasn't a wow preparation - more like Chinese comfort food but everything seemed to have gone according to instructions. Is that helpful??

Asian cooking commonly uses both untoasted sesame oil for cooking, and toasted sesame oil for seasoning. The New York Times staff showed deplorable oversight in publishing this recipe without making that distinction, precisely because many people in America will assume that "sesame oil" means toasted sesame oil. I wonder if the recipe proportions here were determined by someone who assumed the very same, and reduced the oil because toasted sesame oil is strongly flavored

Someone asked about adding vegetables. I reduced chicken by half and added julienned carrots, celery, red pepper, asparagus and onions. Stir fry these first until tender crisp and remove to a platter. Follow the recipe as written. Throw in some sliced water chestnuts after the sauce has reduced. Add the veggies back in. Yum.

I made a mistake by reading everyone's notes first to see the variations and suggestions.
I finally followed the original recipe and all I can tell you is that I can't wait to cook it again. One of the best!

As Mr. Sifton notes, there are as many varieties of this as cooks. My Taiwanese relatives gave it high marks as written, with a caveat and a suggestion. Respectively:
1)Use light soy sauce, not all purpose, not dark.
2)Whole peppers, not pepper flakes, in case any diner wishes to separate them on the plate.

Because I didn't had my glasses on, I made a wonderful mistake: instead of rice wine I used rice vinagre and the result was absolutely gorgeous !

I am highly disturbed to see being proliferated Asian recipes instructing home chefs to use sesame oil as a cooking oil!I am no pro by any means but I have never seen sesame oil being used in that quantity. Sesame oil is analogous to balsamic vinegar or an extremely high quality extra virgin olive oil. It's meant to elevate the flavor profile of a dish, not used to cook it.Unless things have changed dramatically since my childhood, the cooking oil of choice is peanut oil.

Removed the skin (Lisa's suggestion) and cut the thighs into about 1" chunks. Thai basil was way short, so I went out into the garden to see what I could use, the mint kept jumping up and down yelling, "Choose me! Choose me!" so I substituted mint for 1 1/2 C basil. Actually I wasn't just feeling sorry for the poor nerdy mint; I actually swap out basil with mint quite often. (Do you know Thai basil will keep fresh in a vase of water for 6 weeks or more?) Recipe is delicious. Next I'll try beef.

Accidentally used 20 cloves garlic, was quite good.

There is a marked difference between "sesame oil" and "toasted sesame oil." They should not be used interchangeably. Sesame oil is a cooking oil; toasted sesame oil is a flavoring oil. Peanut oil is too bland and neutral for this dish. The cooking oil of choice today for a dish like this is "sesame oil." By the way, the label on toasted sesame oil usually notes its use as being different from plain old sesame oil.

Round two of this tasty dish. I boned the thighs, left skin on and browned them in sesame oil first. Once done threw in the aromatics. Once they were done the sauce was made in the pan, the chicken reintroduced then cooked down. This took less time and produced meat that was better browned and more tender.

With only an electric range, I modified the technique a little: heat a dutch oven at medium heat for 10 minutes, turn heat to high, coat the oven with oil, add fragrances and stir, add more oil and then chicken (bone-in breasts), stir frequently for 5 or 6 minutes, add sugar, stir and then add liquid. Cover and cook in high heat, stir occasionally, until most liquid is gone. Remove from heat, add basil and serve. Use whole or slightly crushed garlic to reduce the chance of burn. Excellent!

Second time I've made this yummy dish. Took a lot of the advice here: Doubled the sauce (added cornstarch to thicken); added other veggies; cooked the chicken in two batches; skipped the sugar since the mirin is sweet enough. Peanuts are a great addition! We're a low-sodium family so saltiness wasn't an issue.

Great recipe. I often cook this. Just to be clear, the recipe calls for "1/2 cup rice wine" NOT "vinegar". Look for Chinese Shaoxing rice wine. Your local asian food store might have a selection of Shaoxing wines —but I usually pick it up at liquor store in Chinatown. Or you might find it online? It's not very expensive, but makes a big difference in Chinese recipes

Every time I cook with a wok according to recipe instructions, it cooks way faster than the recipe suggests. What’s the secret to cooking with a wok?

This recipe has become a staple in our household. I don’t deviate from the recipe because it’s just SO delicious. I’m just adding some broccoli tonight for the heck of it.

Would take the aromatics out before putting in the chicken, then add them back when the sauce goes in. In fact, I wouldn’t put the scallions in at all until the sauce (the outside layers burned, the inside ones got slimy).Used mirin and omitted *both* the shaoxing and the sugar. Result was good. The sauce really benefited from reduction, and didn’t taste like three cup chicken sauce until it had started to thicken and get glossy.

I’m still learning how to cook and doing WW. Can I use chicken breast instead? If so, do I need to adjust cook times? Help?

Added red bell pepper, baby bok choy and snap peas. Cooked them first and then added them in at the end with the basil. Upped the sauce ingredient amounts a little bit too

Delicious! I did julienne the ginger after reading other reviews. And velveted the chicken. Will make again and again.

This is a *lot* better when you don’t skim the directions and use rice wine vinegar.

Extremely tasty recipe. I velvet the chicken first by following the recipe from Woks of Life https://thewoksoflife.com/how-to-velvet-chicken-stir-fry/#recipe. Served with sauté zucchini and red peppers and jasmine rice. Delicious… ginger and garlic was not intense. Perfect.

This is not a 30 minute recipe.

I didn't have any rice wine on hand the first time I made this, so I used 50/50 Fino Sherry and Madeira, which turned out delicious. Then I made two batches of Three-Cup Chicken to compare: one with rice wine, and one with the Sherry/Madeira blend. To my great surprise, I prefer my improvised version. Additionally I omitted the sugar (personal preference). Thought I'd share my discovery with anyone else out there who's also following the author's suggestion to "make the dish their own" :)

Delicious. I added a bunch of veggies, which I highly recommend.

Gouchang paste

I used boneless chicken breasts and whole dried red peppers. Made half the recipe and it was delicious, but my sauce never thickened. Not sure why. But will definitely make again.