Three Cup Chicken is a staple in Chinese cuisine. The legend behind it was passed down from generation to generation, and as the story goes, this dish was created from one cup of soy sauce, one cup of cooking wine and one cup of sesame oil.
Amy and Jacky of PressureCookRecipes.com took that original recipe a step further by layering in ginger, garlic, and other aromatics, and by using an electric pressure cooker. I tried their approach, and it was absolutely incredible.
I had to eliminate a few ingredients from their recipe because I didn’t have any on hand. I didn’t use red chili, thai basil or cane sugar, and it still came out absolutely wonderful. Tender, flavorful, comforting.
You can find their recipe, along with more background on how they developed it here. For convenience, I’ve included my version of their recipe below.
ingredients
6 chicken drumsticks
1/4 C sesame oil
1/4 C shaoxing wine
1/4 C light soy sauce
1″ knob ginger, peeled & thinly sliced
14 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 T dark soy sauce
1 T corn starch, mixed with 2 T water
directions
Set electric pressure cooker to saute. Add sesame oil, ginger and garlic, and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add in the chicken, and saute on all sides until lightly golden. Add the shaoxing wine and light soy sauce and bring to a boil for about a minute, to release some of the alcohol.
Set to high pressure for 8 minutes, and allow for a natural release. (Minimum 10 minute natural release if you’re in a hurry.)
Remove the chicken. Set the electric pressure cooker to saute. Reduce remaining sauce, and thicken with corn starch slurry as needed. Serve chicken with sauce drizzled on top.
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