A staple of Taiwanese home cooking, three-cup chicken (san bei ji) is a punchy, sweet, weeknight-friendly dish usually eaten with white rice. Its name comes from the apparent ratio of its core ingredients: one cup of Shaoxing rice wine, one cup of soy sauce, and one cup of sesame oil—though few recipes actually use this exact combination. Our three-cup chicken recipe has a little more Chinese cooking wine and a little less sesame oil than most, resulting in a slightly sweeter, thicker, and more robust sauce that clings easily to its value-add starch: homemade scissor-cut noodles.
If you’ve never made homemade noodles before, these simple scissor-cut ones are an approachable place to start. Don’t be afraid to adjust based on the feel of the dough: If it’s too dry, add a touch more water, and if it’s too sticky, add a touch more flour. By simply snipping the dough directly into boiling water, you get noodles with an adorable curled-in shape and satisfying chew. They’re an excellent companion to the saucy, aromatic chicken dish.
As with most high-heat cooking, the process moves quickly—cut the meat into bite-size pieces (we opt for skinless, boneless chicken thighs, which are less hassle than skin-on, bone-in cuts), then coat with cornstarch and stir-fry in a quickly infused garlic and chile oil. A large skillet or wok both work here; just be sure to mix your sauce ahead of time so it’s ready to pour over the chicken pieces when the time is right. Use regular, not toasted, sesame oil here. Toasted sesame oil is intended for finishing; it will do in a pinch, but its nuttier flavor can turn acrid when cooked for too long. Add fresh basil (if you can find them, Thai basil leaves are ideal) to the pan in the last minute of cooking so they wilt just slightly.
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What you’ll need
Scissors
$17.95 At Amazon
Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls, Set of 6
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Large Skillet
$74 At Amazon
Medium Pot with Lid
$155 At Amazon
Recipe information
Total Time
1 hour 15 minutes
Yield
4 servings
Ingredients
Dough
2
1
Chicken and Assembly
¼
1
2
1
3
½
2
5
1
1¼
1½
Preparation
Dough
Step 1
Mix 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour, 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt, and ½ cup plus 1 Tbsp. water in a large bowl with your hands until a shaggy dough comes together. Knead in bowl, incorporating any loose bits, until dough forms into a smooth ball and no longer sticks to bowl, about 2 minutes. If dough is not coming together, mix in more water ½ tsp. at a time; if dough is too sticky, mix in more flour 1 tsp. at a time. Cover bowl with a damp paper towel or plastic wrap and let dough rest at room temperature at least 15 minutes.
Do Ahead: Dough can be made 1 day ahead; wrap tightly and chill. Bring to room temperature before using.
Chicken and Assembly
Step 2
While the dough is resting, whisk ¼ cup soy sauce, 1 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. sugar, and 2 tsp. sesame oil in a small bowl until sugar is dissolved. Set sauce aside.
Step 3
Toss 1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1" pieces, with 2 tsp. cornstarch and ½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt in a medium bowl until coated; season with freshly ground pepper.
Step 4
Heat a large skillet over medium; drizzle in vegetable oil and swirl to coat bottom of pan. Crack 2 dried red chiles open and add to pan along with 5 garlic cloves, finely chopped, and one 2" piece ginger, peeled, finely chopped. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove 1 chile from oil; discard.
Step 5
Increase heat to medium-high and add chicken to skillet in an even layer. Cook, undisturbed, until golden brown underneath, about 3 minutes. Turn chicken over and cook 1 minute. Pour in 1¼ cups Shaoxing wine and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring and scraping up any browned bits with a wooden spoon, 2 minutes. Whisk reserved sauce (in case any sugar has settled) and add to skillet. Cook, stirring, until sauce is slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.
Step 6
Stir remaining 1 tsp. cornstarch and ¼ cup water in a small bowl until cornstarch is dissolved, then add slurry to skillet. Cook, stirring often, until sauce thickens further and coats chicken, about 2 minutes. Add 1½ cups (packed) basil leaves and stir until wilted. Remove from heat and keep warm.
Step 7
Bring a medium pot of water to a simmer. Coat a pair of kitchen shears with vegetable oil and snip off ½" pieces of dough directly into simmering water. When all of dough has been snipped, increase heat and bring water to a boil. Cook noodles, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, until most have floated to the surface, about 3 minutes. Drain, reserving ½ cup noodle cooking liquid. Transfer noodles to a large bowl.
Step 8
If sauce in skillet looks too thick, loosen with reserved noodle cooking liquid, 1 Tbsp. at a time. Add chicken to bowl with noodles; stir to combine.
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Reviews (10)
Back to TopMade this for dinner and found it delicious! The noodles went well, but do be aware -they're thick and chewy. The sauce didn't thicken up when I added the suggested amount of cornstarch to the chicken at the end and had to add more.
Kayla
5/12/2023
It does not take 5 minutes to reduce 1.25 cups of Shaoxing wine. I basically boiled the chicken in it for like, 20 minutes with extra corn starch before it became vaguely saucy, and by then it was incredibly salty. With rice instead of noodles, it still tasted alright. If I were to make this again, I would probably use half the amount of wine.
Bethany
Atlanta
5/15/2023
This was really good! I had to make a couple of substitutions because of not having the Chinese ingredients like the dried pepper and the wine but I subbed with red chili flakes and dry sherry and it was fine. My only suggestion is to make sure you cut the noodles thin enough and fairly consistently. Definitely a keeper! Thank you so much!
Pamela A.
Saratoga, CA
8/17/2023
Yummy thought a tad on the salty side! I only added 1cup of the Shaoxing wine because I was nervous from other reviews. Next time I might reduce the soy sauce or add in some additional heat/green onions/acid to tone down the salinity. The noodles were fun to make - added some miso to the dough. Cooked the chicken/sauce combo for longer than suggested but the thighs were still super tender!
Anonymous
Oakland,CA
9/5/2023
Years ago I went to a Chinese restaurant in San Jose with a friend and had “Cat’s Ear Noodles”. I fell in love with them and have been searching for them since. To my delight, this dish was as close as I have been able to get! I did have to increase the cornstarch slurry to get the correct consistency of the sauce, but other than that, this was a hit!
Krista
Huntington Beach, CA
2/26/2024