Here’s another try for the WFD diary we lost last week to the site upgrade. Only a couple people were looking when it finally posted.
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This year I have the best basil crop I can remember, and I don't want pesto again, so I'm trying something new. Thai basil isn't quite the same flavor as the Italian kind I have, but I bet I'll like it fine.
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This is from Mark Wiens at Eating Thai Food, which was at the top of the google results. Check that out for pictures and even video of cooking, and to be told that it's best to use specifically holy basil. I've seen that at the nursery in spring, now I know what it's for. He doesn't even stoop to mention subbing Italian basil, but it's not going to ruin the dish.
You can also add vegetables to this; other recipes I looked at mentioned onions, bell pepper and green beans. I added diced red bell pepper.
Thai Basil Chicken
for one
1 chicken breast (or any other cut of boneless chicken, about 200 grams)
5 cloves of garlic
4 Thai chilies (maybe 1 Serrano chili)
1 tablespoon oil for frying
1 teaspoon of oyster sauce
½ teaspoon light soy sauce
½ teaspoon sugar
1 splash of dark soy sauce
1 handful of Thai holy basil leaves
Make sure your rice is cooked and ready to be served before you start cooking the meat.
Cut the chicken into small bite sized pieces.
Rinse and peel the garlic and chilies, and pound them in a mortar and pestle (alternatively you can just mince them with a knife). They don't need to be super fine, you just want to bring out the oils and flavors from the garlic and chilies.
Pluck a good sized handful of holy basil leaves off the stems.
Now it's time to start cooking. Heat your wok on high heat, and add about 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan.
When the oil is hot, add the chilies and garlic. Stir fry them for about 20 seconds or so until they get really fragrant, but don't let them burn or get too dry.
Toss in your chicken and any vegetables. Keep stir frying continuously. At this stage you want to continue to stir and cook your chicken until it's just about fully cooked all the way through (depending on the size pieces of chicken and how hot your fire is, it should take about 2 - 3 minutes). If it starts to get dry, add just a tiny splash of water.
Add 1 teaspoon of oyster sauce, ½ teaspoon light soy sauce, ½ teaspoon sugar, and finally a splash of dark soy sauce. Keep stir frying for about another 30 seconds.
Grab a handful of holy basil, toss it into the pan, fold it into the chicken, and then immediately turn off the heat (if you're using an electric stove, you'll want to remove the pan from the burner). The holy basil really only needs to cook for about 5 seconds, and it will continue to wilt and cook from the existing heat of the chicken. This step is important because if you cook the basil for too long, it loses some of its glorious flavor and gets slightly chewy.
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One of the few comments last week was “4 Thai chilies?!!!” I was squeamish about that myself and only used 3, and would have liked more. The Thai chilies I bought were little tiny things, not horribly hot, I think 4 or 5 would make one typical Serrano.
I like his suggestion of pounding the garlic and chili, not just mincing, but I don't like the idea of doing it in a mortar and pestle that I want to use for anything else again.
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Since we’re running this again at an unplanned time, I’m not here to reply to comments as I’d like to; this is a football Saturday for me. I probably won’t really have dinner; a 4:30 kickoff is extremely inconvenient in that regard. Lunch, pregame snacks, postgame snacks, beer, who needs dinner?
I don’t like not being able to pre-post the tip jar. What am I going to do with the mustard pot?
What's for dinner at your place? Please consider telling us about it for a future WFD. Message ninkasi23 if you can write sometime.