Vegan Three Cup Chicken (三杯鸡）

I was missing this dish from a taiwanese restaurant in Shanghai and decided to try to make it and do a vegan version, so substituting the chicken for a vegan alternative.

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Recipe adapted from https://rasamalaysia.com/three-cups-chicken-recipe/#mv-creation-112

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Serving: 2-3

Ingredients:

• 300-400g vegan meat alternative (i used amidori veggie pulled)

• 2 tbsp dark sesame oil or toasted sesame oil

• 2-inch (5 cm) piece old ginger, peeled and cut into thin pieces

• 6 cloves garlic, peeled

• 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce

• 1 1/2 tbsp dark sweet soy sauce, kecap manis (if you do not have, then you can use 1 tsp dark soy sauce and 1 tsp of sugar instead)

• 1 1/2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine

• 1 bunch Thai basil leaves (can be easily found at an asian supermarket)

Instructions:

1. Heat up a clay pot on high heat and add the sesame oil. Add the ginger, garlic, and stir-fry until aromatic. Add in the vegan meat and do a few quick stirs.

2. Add the soy sauce, dark sweet soy sauce, Shaoxing wine and continue to stir-fry. Cover the lid, lower the heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes. you might need to add a bit of water or sauce if it looks dry.

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This was pretty tasty, however it wasn’t as strong in flavor as the one I had in Shanghai, but I think it is because we used far less garlic. even from this recipe I used half of what it says, so only three. therefore i would suggest if you want a stronger and more authentic flavor then I would add even more garlic and saute them a bit longer so that they are a bit more browned and charred. the vegan meat SUBSTITUTE worked, the sauce ended up a bit dry probably because it lacked the chicken fat. but i just added a bit more sauce and it was fine. this is a fast and easy recipe to make that packs a lot of flavor.

it did partially satisfy my craving for this dish but I can’t wait to go back to shanghai to have the real deal, let us hope that restaurant will still be around.