Spicy Three Cup Chicken (San Bei Jin)

Recently a long time friend of mine came to visit.She brought a full pack of Thai's basil for me.The only way I know to use this Thai's basil is to cook 3 cups chicken (San Bei Ji).San Bei Ji is a popular Chinese dish that serve particularly at Taiwanese restaurant.I like my dish spicy,so this time I added dried chili pepper and ginger when braising the whole chicken with rice wine,soy sauce and sesame oil.All these exotic seasoning and herbs absorbs into the chicken meat while braising a low flame for an hour really make the meat taste so smooth and tangible.I guess every cook like to create their own version of 3 cup chicken accordingly to their own taste bud.

This post is going to be my last post before I leave for my summer vacation tomorrow.In the coming weeks you will see more Malaysian or Chinese food make by my beloved mom..My mom dishes is 10 X better than mine and her cooking skill is fast,easy and beautiful,not to said the food taste delicious too!!

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken about 5 lbs,clean and chop into small pieces
6-7 sprig Thai's basil,use leaves only
10 dried red chili pepper,washed
3-4 inch old ginger,peeled and slices
1 bulb fresh garlic,peeled and chopped


Seasoning:

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup shaoxing wine or Chinese rice wine
1/4 cup sesame oil
4 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp caramel sauce  or dark soy sauce*optional*
salt to taste

Method:

1:Heat wok at high heat with oil,garlic and ginger.Sauteed for 1 minute or until fragrant. Then add in dried red chili pepper,keep stirring until popping.

2:Add in chicken,rice wine,soy sauce and sesame oil.Lower heat/flame and cover wok with lid.Simmer the chicken for 30 minutes.Use spatula to stir the chicken from time to time.Add in basil and the rest of the seasoning.Keep simmer for another 20 minutes.

3:Check the seasoning.Dish out and serve warm with steamed rice.