Not every stir fry dish needs to be complex or fancy. In fact, many stir fry dishes are common street foods in Asia so keeping them simple is almost necessary. While we typically think of whole cuts of meat broken down into bite-sized pieces or thinly sliced, ground meat is rarely heard of in terms of typical stir fry cuisine. Today's recipe, Thai Basil Beef, keeps things super simple and uses fresh vegetables and ground beef that soak up a savory sauce that would be great on its own, but we finish with handfuls of fresh basil to produce an irresistible aromatic stir fry anyone can make at home! You could use thin sliced beef and make an equally delicious Thai Basil Beef dish, but extra ground beef is what is typically found at my house in the fridge, so this white boy decided to make this stir fry his own way. If you like to go against the norm or just enjoy lazy cooking, today's recipe is the one for you...Let's Get Cooking!
Prep work for this Thai Basil Beef recipe is very minimal. The only things that need any attention are the bell peppers and onion. Slice both into long thin strips, equal in size, so they cook evenly and complement the smaller, clumps of ground beef. You can use any color of bell pepper, but I personally think the sweetness of the red with its bright color contrast works best for this particular dish.
Once sliced, add them to a sauté pan with some cooking oil over Medium-High heat. This is a one pan dinner so be sure to use one large enough to cook the ground beef in later as well as combine all the ingredients to finish things up. Don't forget to season with some salt and pepper, as always!
Cook the sliced bell peppers for 2 to 3 minutes before adding the sliced onion. Continue to let the veggies sauté for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Then add the minced garlic and ginger paste and let everything sauté together for about 1 minute, until fragrant!
After 1 minute, transfer the aromatic veggies to a bowl and set aside for now. Add the ground beef to the same pan and cook it for 8 to 10 minutes, until browned. A little salt and pepper will go a long way at this point, as well. You don't have to completely cook the ground beef through at this point.
While you're browning the ground beef, we will make the sauce that puts all the flavor in this dish. Combine the soy sauce, brown sugar, fish sauce, oyster sauce, chili garlic paste, beef stock, and cornstarch to a small bowl and mix well. Don't worry if the cornstarch clumps a little as it will get cooked and break up shortly.
Once your ground beef is browned, but before all the pink completely cooks off, as seen above, pour the sauce into the pan with the beef and increase the temperature to High. We want to get those liquids boiling so the cornstarch can kick in and start thickening up the sauce. I did end up adjusting the liquid amounts which are reflected in the recipe card below. The flavors and ratio's are the same, but I felt like it took a bit too long to reduce as seen in my image immediately below.
Once the liquids are boiling, reduce the temperature back down to Medium or Medium-Low and simmer the beef for 10 to 15 more minutes. The beef will slowly absorb some of the excess liquids as it finishes cooking and the sauce will begin to thicken.
The above picture is about halfway through the thickening process. Once about 80% of the sauce has been absorbed or cooked off, return the veggies to the pan and continue cooking everything together for a couple more minutes to rewarm the veggies through and give them a little time to soak up any remaining sauce flavors as well.
Remove the pan from the stove at this point and let it begin to cool just a bit, about 5 minutes or so. Any remaining liquids should fully thicken during this cooldown. Additionally, take your basil and rip it up using your hands or use a knife to rough chop it into smaller pieces. This allows more of those oils and basil flavor to begin leaching from the leaves, which adds a ton of additional flavor to the final product! The more basil the better for this Thai Basil Beef, so don't be skimpy and use a full 2 or 3 cups packed with leaves. You will find the best stuff, Holy Basil, at the Asian market so make a trip and check it out. Not only will it more than likely be cheaper than your local grocery, but it has a slightly different taste than Sweet Basil, which can also be used in a pinch if it is what you have and don't want to run to the store. Anyway, add the roughly ripped or chopped basil to the ground beef mixture and give it a quick stir just before serving. You can reserve some for plating if you're into fresh, raw basil flavors like myself, but adding it last minute basically keeps things mega fresh and fragrant as is, so it isn't necessary, except for fancy Instagram pics!
Serve your Thai Basil Beef with a scoop of rice and chow down! The rice will absorb any excess sauce and become just as tasty as the dish itself. This is obviously just a starting point for this delicious dinner as well. You can always add some fresh Thai chilies to spice things up or serve it with some Sriracha on the side for others that may not like spicy food as much. It is pretty much traditional as is, but we do what we want around here so add some broccoli, baby corn, water chestnuts, or any other typical stir fry ingredients you wish and make it your own! I'm not going to judge you for adding more vegetables to stretch the meal farther or kick it up a notch...You Do You! That being said, it is pretty damn good as is if I do say so myself so get in the kitchen and give this one a try...Just Keep Cooking!
THAI BASIL BEEF
Comments