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Three-cup chicken

This Taiwanese recipe uses 1 cup of soy sauce, 1 cup of sesame oil and 1 cup of rice wine. You can vary the amounts, but the final stir-fry should be slightly sticky.
From Ching-He Huang
Serves 2–4 to share

1 tablespoon groundnut (peanut) oil
5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2.5cm/1 inch piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and sliced
500g/1lb 2oz chicken thighs and drumsticks, skinned and each piece halved on the bone
50ml/2fl oz light soy sauce
50ml/2fl oz toasted sesame oil
50ml/2fl oz Shaohsing rice wine or dry sherry
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 small handful of Chinese basil leaves, or Thai or Italian sweet basil, plus extra to garnish
1 medium red chilli, deseeded and cut into strips (optional)
steamed jasmine rice to serve

Heat a wok over a high heat and add the groundnut oil. When the oil starts to smoke, add the garlic and ginger and stir-fry quickly for a few seconds. Then add the chicken and stir-fry for 2–3 minutes until it has browned.

Add the soy sauce, sesame oil and rice wine or sherry, and cook on a medium heat for 6 minutes. Stir well and add the sugar.

Bring the contents to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for about 5 minutes until the sauce is reduced completely and the chicken is cooked. Turn off the heat. Stir in the basil leaves and leave to wilt slightly.

Pour onto a plate, garnish with chilli strips and more basil leaves and serve immediately with jasmine rice.

Ching’s Tip: Since you want a dry stir-fry here, it’s important to use toasted sesame oil, which will reduce as it cooks, and not pure sesame oil, which will just keep on cooking and not reduce.