Thai Basil Chicken
A delightful dish that hits all the notes -- sweet, slightly tangy, savory, with a lovely "glaze" texture. Goes fantastic with a bed of white rice. Traditionally served with a fried egg on top, and the combination is so good. The basil gives it a lovely herbaceousness that cuts into the richness of the dish. I've never actually had this dish at a restaurant, but I saw it on a video and really wanted to give it a try. It was well worth it!
Active Time: 25 min
Total Time: 25 min
Ingredients
> chicken (1 lb, diced into ~1cm cubes)
> garlic (4 cloves, minced)
> shallots (1, thinly sliced)
> Thai chili (4, thinly slied)
> Thai basil (1 entire bunch / pack, sliced into slivers)
> neutral oil
Sauce / glaze
> soy sauce (1 tbsp)
> dark soy sauce (1 tsp)
> oyster sauce (1 tbsp)
> fish sauce (1 tbsp)
> white sugar (1 tbsp)
Instructions
1. Make the sauce / glaze by mixing together soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, and white sugar until fully mixed.
2. In a large pan over high heat, stir-fry the chicken for several minutes, or until it (ideally) starts to turn a bit brown.
3. Add the garlic, shallots, and chili and continue to stir-fry for a couple of minutes.
4. Add a little bit of sauce (about 1/4 of sauce), and stir fry for a bit until lightly caramelized. Then add the rest of the sauce and continue to stir-fry for a few more minutes, until the sauce starts to form a light glaze.
5. Take off the heat and stir in the sliced Thai basil. Serve over a bed of rice and top with a fried egg. Enjoy!
Notes/Tips:
> Be very generous with the amount of Thai basil you use in this. I'd recommend using one whole bunch / pack that you can get at the store. You can also use regular basil, but the flavor is quite different.
> Be careful with the amount of Thai chili you use. The amount of spice varies, but the small ones that I purchased were VERY spicy.
> Feel free to use any cut of chicken you'd prefer. In my opinion, boneless thigh works the best.
> Make sure to use very high heat and evaporate off any excess water in the chicken; otherwise it won't caramelize / form a glaze properly. Also don't add too much oil, because chicken can release a decent amount of fat as well.
> Usually, the chicken is chopped into much smaller pieces (not exactly ground chicken, but definitely smaller than 1cm cubes). I personally prefer the slightly larger chunks.