I recently visited Thailand and one of the dishes I loved on my trip to Bangkok was this Thai basil chicken. After my trip, I manage to prepare my homemade basil chicken and it was amazing. Thai basil chicken, better known in Thai as pad kra pao gai, a contender for the most popular, and the most beloved Thai street food dish of all time. It is chicken cooked with and a fried egg on the side all over a bed of hot steamed rice, it is a delicious and awesome dish that you are going to love. You absolutely can substitute the chicken breast in ground chicken if you prefer. However, chopping the chicken thighs yourself is going to result in better texture and flavor, and it takes, at the most, 2 minutes.
If you have a hard time finding Thai basil or Thai chilies, you can substitute there as well. Substitute with a different hot chili and regular Italian basil. It is absolutely worth the effort to get the real thing because it is different, but in a pinch, those substitutions will do. First, you are going to fry some eggs, place your pan over medium heat and add oil then ket it heats up. Break the egg in the pan and once cooked, place it on a plate and set aside. For the chicken, you are going to use chicken breasts, take your breasts and slice it to bite size pieces. Meanwhile, crush your garlic alongside red chili, if you are not a fan of chili then you can leave it out. Place your pan back on the heat then add oil and let that heat up. Add the garlic and chili and fry that for a few seconds then you are going to toss in your cut chicken breast.
You want to stir fry the chicken continuously for about a minute or so and then you are going to add in light soy sauce, a spoon of oyster sauce, a tiny bit of sugar and a squirt of dark sauce. The final step is taking a big handful of holy basil then turn off the heat but keep stirring. This is important because you don’t want to overcook the basil which would make it lose its flavor. Once you are done cooking that, serve it immediately over steamed rice with the fried egg.
Ingredients;
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 8 ounces green beans
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, coarsely chopped
4 sliced shallots - 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 minced Thai chilies, or to taste
- 1 cup very thinly sliced fresh Thai basil leaves
- Rice, to serve
Instructions;
- Heat the oil in a wok or heavy, high-walled skillet over high heat.
- As the wok is heating up, whisk together the oyster sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce, and sugar until well-combined. Set aside.
- Add the bell pepper and green beans to the hot wok. Stir-fry for one minute.
- Add in the chicken and stir-fry, breaking apart as you go, until beginning to brown, about 2 minutes.
- Stir in the shallots, garlic, and Thai chilies. Cook until fragrant, about 1 more minute.
- Pour in the prepared sauce. Continue to cook until the sauce begins to glaze onto the meat, about 1-2 more minutes.
- Stir in the Thai basil leaves and cook until the chicken is completely cooked through, the basil is wilted, and the liquid has mostly evaporated.
- Serve warm with rice.
