Oct 5, 2021

Three Cup Chicken Fried Rice 三杯雞炒飯

Three cup chicken, if you haven't really heard of it, is basically a Chinese/Taiwanese dish made with one cup of soy sauce, 1 cup of Chinese rice cooking wine, and 1 cup of sesame oil. Usually ginger, garlics, and Chinese basil are also involved in bringing up extra aromatics.


Three cup chicken fried rice

You don't have to strictly follow the proportion of the seasonings, the idea of "three cup" simply implies a general rule for making three cup dishes. Depending on your preference, sometimes people like to tone down the amount of sesame oil used. 


This time, instead of three cup chicken alone, I'm going to give it a little twist and turn the classic flavor into fried rice.


Three cup chicken fried rice 三杯雞炒飯 -


Three cup chicken fried rice

Ingredients (about 4 portions)?

  • 570 grams, about 1.25 lbs dark meat chicken (boneless, skin-on preferred)
  • 1 chunk old ginger
  • 4 to 5 garlic cloves
  • 50 grams or 1 loosely packed cup chopped Chinese basil
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 1/2 rice measuring cups brown rice
  • 2 tablespoons black sesame oil
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil or other preferred cooking oil
  • Some red chili sauce (optional)

Marinade:

  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 3 tablespoons Chinese rice cooking wine
  • 1 tablespoon black sesame oil
  • 1 teaspoon sugar


How?

Precook 2 1/2 rice measuring cups of brown rice. You can use white rice instead, just remember to use less water than usual when cooking the rice. Once ready, fluff the rice and set aside. Leftover rice works too.


Cut the chicken into large bite size pieces. Massage and marinate the chicken with all the ingredients listed under the "marinade" section. Simply let it marinate while prepping other ingredients.


Marinating boneless skin-on chicken

Pick out the Chinese basil leaves and give it a fine chop. Beat 4 eggs. Add in chopped Chinese basil leaves and beat again till evenly blended.


Beaten eggs with chopped Chinese basil leaves

Peel and chop the garlic cloves. Scrape the skin and slice the old ginger, about 1 to 1.5 mm thickness.


Use a non-stick pan or a wok, drizzle 2 tablespoons of cooking oil, not the black sesame oil, to the pan and turn to medium high heat. Once warmed up, pour in beaten egg and make scrambled egg there. You can let the beaten egg set for a bit before stirring it. Scoop out the eggs for later use.


Scrambled eggs with Chinese basil

Still using the same pan, this time drizzle 2 tablespoons of black sesame oil over and continue with medium high heat. Add in ginger and sear till slightly colored. 


Add in garlic and chicken along with its marinade. Give it a quick mix. Cook till no more extra juice present, like almost dried up.


Searing boneless dark meat chicken

Mix in rice in two batches. Make sure each grains are coated with the seasonings first before adding the second batch. Once well blended, mix in scrambled eggs. Mix and give it a taste, see if need more soy sauce or other seasonings.


Plate and serve with some chili sauce on top.


Three cup chicken fried rice

How about fancier version of three cup chicken fried rice? Try frying up some Chinese basil leaves till crispy, like the ones you sometimes get from a Taiwanese crispy chicken place. Garnish the leaves on top of the rice. It'll definitely provide more depth, both presentation and flavor-wise. 


Other fried rice recipes:


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