Three Cup Chicken

This Taiwanese deliciousness is probably my favorite stir-fried dish. This recipe was adapted from a couple of different online sources through experimentation, but owes a great deal to the New York Times's recipe.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds boneless chicken thighs, skin removed, or about 1 3/4 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 2 tbsp neutral cooking oil, like rice bran or canola
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 6-8 whole dried Chinese red chilies, like Tien Tsin peppers
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
• 3 inches ginger, finely diced - about 2-3 tbsp diced
• 1 head (8-12 cloves) garlic, finely diced
• 1 bunch green onions
• 2 tbsp neutral oil, like rice bran or canola
• 1/2 cup michiu (rice cooking wine) - sake is an OK substitute but not the same
• 1/4 cup light soy sauce (not low sodium, but a thin-bodied soy sauce like Kikkoman or Yamasa)
• 1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 cups basil leaves, preferably Thai basil, removed from stems and roughly chopped

Directions

Chop the chicken thighs into roughly 3/4-inch chunks. Heat cooking oil and sesame oil in a wok or large pan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add chilies and crushed red pepper and stir until the chilies just begin to darken and blister. Add green onions, ginger and garlic, and stir for 2-3 minutes. Add chicken chunks and cook, stirring frequently, for 7 to 8 minutes, until chicken is just cooked through. Add wine, soy sauce and brown sugar and stir to coat. Continue cooking for another 3 to 4 minutes, until the liquid is almost completely reduced and glazed onto the chicken pieces. Add basil leaves and stir for 1 minute more, then remove from heat. Add another splash of soy sauce if desired. Serve with rice.

This recipe is also nice (though not traditional) with the addition of vegetables like peppers and mushrooms. If you do add ingredients, you'll need to scale the wine, soy sauce and sugar up a bit.