Stir fries are fast, easy, and delicious. This Thai Basil Chicken will wow you! An incredibly flavorful recipe that truly tastes just like your favorite Thai restaurant take out, or even better. Serve over some rice and a quick impressive meal is ready in no time.
We’ve eaten our share of bad Thai and great Thai food too. One of our favorites, if not the best is Khin Khao, a Michelin star Thai restaurant in San Francisco. Their flavors are subtle and not a single ingredient is overpowering. I definitely love their approach to recipes, and I was definitely inspired when I made the sauce for this Spicy Thai Basil Chicken.
There is so much nuance to Thai food, it’s not just food that’s as hot as it can be. Anyway, the Thai food that we have here is not Thai enough. It is, in fact, in complete adherence to the spirit of approachable Thai food. No doubt, the food is called Thai cuisine, and is cooked widely, especially if you take the common majority’s favorite ‘yellow or green Thai curry.’ But, is that authentic? No, but it’s relatable and palatable for all.
This recipe in particular I learned from a Thai instructor when I took a one-day crash course in Thai cuisine. I was a new young bride from India wanting to learn everything, every cuisine there was. He of course taught us the yellow thai curry, which I made even more approachable so as to not run to buy all the ingredients for the spices. This one though, I kept it exactly like how he taught us, and it is quite a simple recipe with few ingredients. I definitely have a love affair with modern Thai food, Thai tacos for instance.
Thai Basil Chicken
As the name suggests, Thai basil is a key ingredient in this recipe. It tastes pretty much like normal basil but has a stronger flavor. You can find them easily. However, if you don’t find them, go ahead and use the normal basil.
Cooking this recipe is easy, just remember not to use too much sauce, and just enough sauce to coat the stir fry and to soak the rice a bit (enough!).
Cook on high temperature, serve over jasmine rice, and eat immediately.
Enjoy!
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce, or as needed
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- ¼ cup chicken or veg broth
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 pound chicken mince
- 4 shallots chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons minced Thai chilies, Serrano, or other hot
- 1 cup very thinly sliced fresh basil leaves
- 2 cups hot cooked rice
- Whisk the broth, oyster sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce, brown sugar together in a bowl until well blended.
- Heat large skillet over high heat. Drizzle in oil. Add chicken and stir fry until it loses its raw color, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in shallots, garlic, and sliced chilies. Continue cooking on high heat until some of the juices start to caramelize in the bottom of the pan, about 2 or 3 more minutes. Add about a tablespoon of the sauce mixture to the skillet; cook and stir until sauce begins to caramelize, about 1 minute.
- Pour in the rest of the sauce. Cook and stir until sauce has deglazed the bottom of the pan. Continue to cook until sauce glazes onto the meat, 1 or 2 more minutes. Remove from heat.
- Stir in basil. Cook and stir until basil is wilted, about 20 seconds. Serve with rice.
If you make this basil chicken, *Please do tag me on Instagram @foodfashionparty if you make this, using the hashtag #foodfashionparty. Check out my book MASALA AND MEATBALLS.
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