US$16 three cups chicken well worth the cash at Mei Taiwan Cuisine in Wan Chai, Hong Kong
- Taiwan’s famous dish gets the name from its three main ingredients of sesame oil, Chinese rice wine, and soy sauce – and it all tasted delicious
- Served in a sizzling casserole filled with savoury hunks of golden brown chicken meat, a mix of basil leaves, spring onions and garlic added fragrance
With Taiwan just a short plane ride away, it’s a popular place to visit for Hong Kong residents. But if a two-hour flight is too long, you could always head to Mei Taiwan Cuisine in Wan Chai for a taste of some of Taiwan’s most popular dishes.
We ordered the famous three cups chicken (HK$128), which gets its name from three key ingredients: sesame oil, Chinese rice wine, and soy sauce.
The dish was served within 10 minutes as a sizzling casserole filled with savoury hunks of golden brown chicken meat. A mix of basil leaves, spring onions and garlic added fragrance, while onions and red pepper gave the dish a sweet-spicy flavour.
Three kinds of mushrooms were in the casserole – pearl oyster mushroom, king oyster mushroom and poplar mushroom, which gave the dish additional texture, while also soaking up the luscious sauce.
A Sichuan dish of boiled sliced beef (HK$138) was strongly flavoured, spicy and oily, as it should be. The beef was cooked with crunchy bean sprouts and konjac noodle knots, as well as baby napa cabbage and celery. The plentiful vegetables balanced the heaviness of the oil and chilli, while the beef was tender but sliced a little too thick.