Three-cup chicken

What it is

Chicken cooked with sesame oil, rice wine and soy sauce plus ginger, garlic and basil until the sauce has almost all been absorbed. The result is sticky, savoury and fragrant with basil and sesame. The Taiwanese version is milder and not spicy.

Where it comes from

The dish comes from Jiangxi province and is a speciality of Ningdu, a Hakka area. The name refers to the three cups of sauce supposedly used. One popular story links it to the Song-dynasty patriot Wen Tianxiang, said to have been served it by a sympathetic jailer before his execution, but this is an anecdote. Hakka people are credited with bringing it to Taiwan.

How it is made

Chicken and the three sauces are cooked in an earthenware pot, first on high heat, then on low so the meat absorbs the liquid. Modern recipes use far less than a full cup of oil or sugar.

How to eat it

Steamed rice is the natural partner. At Mai Yen Shun the chicken leg is fried first, then finished with old ginger in three-cup sauce.

In Kaohsiung

Old records and farm tools fill Mai Yen Shun, a retro-styled restaurant in Kaohsiung serving home-style Taiwanese dishes from years past.