Three-Cup Chicken

I made this exactly as the recipe instructs (because that's how I cook; try it as written first and then "riff" later if I feel it's merited) and it was superb. I brought it to a Lunar New Year party and some Taiwanese guests tried it and then bogarted the whole pot because they said it was authentic and delicious. The key is dark meat, they said. Try not to use boned chicken thighs because boning the thighs yourself ensures a fresher tasting dish.

Just made this with 2 lbs. boneless skinless thighs. Julienned the ginger; removed that and whole garlic before stir-frying chicken in 3 batches. This kept it from steaming. Then returned all the chicken along with the ginger and garlic to the wok, added the sugar, and magic happened. Added a bit of corn starch in water to thicken the sauce. Saved the scallions for the final moments, along with the Thai basil. Excellent with jasmine rice and green beans tossed with hoisin.

This was excellent, although I made the following changes:

1. Do NOT use TOASTED sesame oil, that's a seasoning; use any light oil instead.

2. Slice ginger about 1/6” thick

3. Use 8 thin scallions or 4 fat ones.

4. Use 4 dried Japanese red peppers.

5. Cook chicken 15 minutes; brown well.

6. Use any brown sugar.

7. Use Mirin rice wine.

8. Use any type soy sauce.

9. Use 1 cup of chopped fresh basil.

10. Cook sauce until very thick and coats chicken.

Hey Pat, it's only food. The NYTimes cooking site seems to be a tool for amateurs who might be serious about what they cook. It isn't perfect.
I just made this recipe and am eating it as we speak. I used whole dried peppers which gave it a nice bite and it wasn't too sweet which is what my Taiwanese American daghter in law had warned me about. It wasn't a wow preparation - more like Chinese comfort food but everything seemed to have gone according to instructions. Is that helpful??

Asian cooking commonly uses both untoasted sesame oil for cooking, and toasted sesame oil for seasoning. The New York Times staff showed deplorable oversight in publishing this recipe without making that distinction, precisely because many people in America will assume that "sesame oil" means toasted sesame oil. I wonder if the recipe proportions here were determined by someone who assumed the very same, and reduced the oil because toasted sesame oil is strongly flavored

Someone asked about adding vegetables. I reduced chicken by half and added julienned carrots, celery, red pepper, asparagus and onions. Stir fry these first until tender crisp and remove to a platter. Follow the recipe as written. Throw in some sliced water chestnuts after the sauce has reduced. Add the veggies back in. Yum.

I made a mistake by reading everyone's notes first to see the variations and suggestions.
I finally followed the original recipe and all I can tell you is that I can't wait to cook it again. One of the best!

As Mr. Sifton notes, there are as many varieties of this as cooks. My Taiwanese relatives gave it high marks as written, with a caveat and a suggestion. Respectively:
1)Use light soy sauce, not all purpose, not dark.
2)Whole peppers, not pepper flakes, in case any diner wishes to separate them on the plate.

Because I didn't had my glasses on, I made a wonderful mistake: instead of rice wine I used rice vinagre and the result was absolutely gorgeous !

I am highly disturbed to see being proliferated Asian recipes instructing home chefs to use sesame oil as a cooking oil! I am no pro by any means but I have never seen sesame oil being used in that quantity. Sesame oil is analogous to balsamic vinegar or an extremely high quality extra virgin olive oil. It's meant to elevate the flavor profile of a dish, not used to cook it. Unless things have changed dramatically since my childhood, the cooking oil of choice is peanut oil.

Removed the skin (Lisa's suggestion) and cut the thighs into about 1" chunks. Thai basil was way short, so I went out into the garden to see what I could use, the mint kept jumping up and down yelling, "Choose me! Choose me!" so I substituted mint for 1 1/2 C basil. Actually I wasn't just feeling sorry for the poor nerdy mint; I actually swap out basil with mint quite often. (Do you know Thai basil will keep fresh in a vase of water for 6 weeks or more?) Recipe is delicious. Next I'll try beef.

Accidentally used 20 cloves garlic, was quite good.

There is a marked difference between "sesame oil" and "toasted sesame oil." They should not be used interchangeably. Sesame oil is a cooking oil; toasted sesame oil is a flavoring oil. Peanut oil is too bland and neutral for this dish. The cooking oil of choice today for a dish like this is "sesame oil." By the way, the label on toasted sesame oil usually notes its use as being different from plain old sesame oil.

Round two of this tasty dish. I boned the thighs, left skin on and browned them in sesame oil first. Once done threw in the aromatics. Once they were done the sauce was made in the pan, the chicken reintroduced then cooked down. This took less time and produced meat that was better browned and more tender.

With only an electric range, I modified the technique a little: heat a dutch oven at medium heat for 10 minutes, turn heat to high, coat the oven with oil, add fragrances and stir, add more oil and then chicken (bone-in breasts), stir frequently for 5 or 6 minutes, add sugar, stir and then add liquid. Cover and cook in high heat, stir occasionally, until most liquid is gone. Remove from heat, add basil and serve. Use whole or slightly crushed garlic to reduce the chance of burn. Excellent!