Chicken and Basil Hot-Pot (Three Cup Chicken 三杯雞) + SBS Featured Foodie

Do you have a dish that you like cooking that much that you remember the exact measurements of each ingredient as well as all the cooking steps?

This is it. A dish that I have cooked too many times over the years.

This chicken and basil hot pot is also called "three cup chicken" because of the use of three equal amounts of soy sauce, sesame oil and Chinese cooking wine in the recipe. Garlic, ginger, fresh red chilli and basil leaves are added to enhance the flavour and it's no doubt one of my favourite Chinese hot-pot dishes.

It was made popular in Taiwan although the origin is traced back to mainland China. Nowadays, you can order this dish at most Chinese restaurants in Sydney. Contradictory to most Chinese hot pot dishes that are ladened with sauce, this dish is gently simmered with the lid off until all the sauce has been evaporated and all the flavour has been absorbed by the chicken. It's usually served piping hot in the claypot with steamed rice.

I am one lucky woman who has a husband who loves to cook. We have our own territory. He has his outdoor barbecue and I take control of the indoor kitchen. Once in a while, and more often on days when his work is not too busy, he likes to cook some of his favourite dishes, notably the Thomas Keller's Simple Roast Chicken and Greek Style Pot Roasted Chicken. (Oh and he makes a mean roast pork with crispy crackling!)

Truth be told, I wasn't the cook behind this wonderful hot pot dish photographed in this post. He was. Surprise, surprise?!

It was his first time making this dish. He walked into the kitchen on the day I planned to cook this dish for my blog and told me that he wanted to cook it. I said, "cool!". I didn't have the recipe written down, so he cooked as I verbally gave him the instructions. The process was a little tedious and sometimes I got annoyed when he distrusted my instructions, "10 cloves of garlic! Whole? Not crushed? Not chopped? Are you sure?" but overall, it was fun.

Now that I have this recipe on my blog, he can cook this dish whenever he wants.

This is a tasty but not a very difficult dish to make. Perfect for a weekdays dinner. You can replace the chicken with spare ribs, prawns, squid or tofu and adjust the cooking time according.

On a side note, I am being featured on SBS food newsletter and their website. Click on the image to read my Q & A with them:

Chicken and Basil Hot Pot (Three Cup Chicken 三杯雞)
Serve 4

Ingredients

800 g chicken thigh fillets, cut into bite size piece
10 cloves garlic
2 fresh red chillis, chopped
5 slices ginger
1/4 cup sesame oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup shaoxing wine
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp spicy bean sauce
1/4 cup loosely packed basil leaves, more for garnish

Method

1. Heat 3 tbsp oil in a fry pan and brown the chicken in batches.
2. Remove chicken and set aside. Discard oil.
3. Heat sesame oil in a hotpot (claypot) and fry the garlic, ginger and chilli until fragrant.
4. Add soy sauce, shaoxing wine, water, sugar and spicy bean sauce and bring to a boil.
5. Add chicken and simmer uncover until sauce is reduced & thicken and chicken is cooked, about 10-15 minutes.
6. Stir in basil leaves and mix well.
7. Garnish with more fresh basil leaves and serve immediately with steam rice.