Three Cups Chicken Recipe (三杯鸡)

Before i fly to Canada, i had a nice farewell dinner with my family at Xuan Xin Restaurant @ Gurney Plaza, Penang. We ordered a dish call, 3 cups chicken. Ya, indeed, it sounds weird with direct chinese translation. Anyway, the dish is delicious. So, i thought of making the dish tonight for dinner.

Three Cups Chicken Recipe (三杯鸡)
Ingredients:
1/2 lb. boneless chicken drumsticks (marinate with 1/2 tbsp baking soda for 10 mins)
6 slices peeled ginger
4 cloves garlic (skin peeled and pressed with the back of the knife for better aroma)
1 tbsp dark sesame oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
1 tbsp dark sweet soy sauce (Kecap Manis)
Thai basil leaves (up to your taste)

Method
The baking soda really make a difference to tenderize the chicken. So after marinate the chicken with baking soda, rinse it off thoroughly and dry them with kitchen towel. Then cut the chicken into pieces and season with soy sauce, shaoxing wine and kecap manis for about half an hour.
Heat up a wok on high heat and put in the dark sesame oil, stir fry the garlic and ginger until aromatic. Add in the chicken and stir fry a little. Cover the lid and simmer the chicken for about 5 mins. Then add in the basil leaves and stir well with the chicken. Serve with hot steaming rice.

**This dish will cook better with claypot because it will keep the dish warm longer than the metal container. Cooking in clay pots requires a slow cooking method, meats become more tender and moist and retain nutrients and natural flavors because the juices released by the food cannot escape from the pot. The need to add extra fats or liquids can be leave out.