Recipe courtesy of Grace Young and Alan Richardson

Uncle Lang's Three Teacup Chicken

  • Level: Easy
  • Yield: 4 servings
  • Total: 25 min
  • Prep: 5 min
  • Cook: 20 min
I was charmed when my uncle bought a small Chinese teacup to measure the soy sauce, vinegar and sugar for this recipe. He typically browns a whole chicken in the wok which requires skill to do. I prefer to use chicken breasts or legs. The Sichuan peppercorns must be dry-roasted in a work for a few minutes to bring out their flavor and then crushed before being cooked.
Advertisement

Ingredients

3 whole star anise

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons Shao Hsing rice wine or dry sherry

1/2 teaspoons peanut oil

4 whole chicken legs or 4 small breast halves on the bone (about 2 pounds)

3 medium garlic cloves, smashed

6 slices ginger

1/2 cup homemade chicken broth

Directions

  1. In a medium bowl, combine the star anise, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, and rice wine. Set aside.
  2. Heat a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok over high heat until a bead of water vaporizes with 1 to 2 seconds of contact. Swirl in the oil and carefully add the chicken skin side down, spreading it in the wok. Cook, undisturbed 3 to 4 minutes, adjusting the heat between medium and medium-high to let the chicken brown.
  3. Add the garlic and ginger. Then, using a metal spatula, turn the chicken over, and pan-fry 3 to 4 minutes, or until the chicken is browned but not cooked through. Stir the soy sauce mixture, and swirl it into the wok. Turn the chicken over. It should be golden brown. Swirl the broth into the wok, cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook 8 minutes for the legs or 5 minutes for the breast.

Let's Get Cooking!

Sign up for the Recipe of the Day newsletter to receive editor-picked recipes,tips and videos delivered to your inbox daily. Privacy Policy

Thanks for subscribing to the Recipe of the Day newsletter. Check out all our other great newsletters from Easy Recipes, Healthy Eating Ideas and Chef Recipe Videos.

We're sorry, there was an error signing you up. Please try again later.

Advertisement

eaton_alaska

This is a very tasty dish! and very easy to make once you have located the Szechuan peppercorns and the star anis. If you don't live in San Francisco or NYC, you probably have to mail order them. Other reviewers have already mentioned what to do with the SZ peppercorns and other problems of the recipe. <br />I bought a package of chicken drumsticks and chopped them into bite sized pieces with a cleaver. Other recipes on the net for this dish picture the chicken chopped up. I also buy bags of frozen wingettes or drumettes made from chicken wings. They work really well in this type of dish. I also added half a minced serrano chili.

See All Reviews