Sa-Wa-Dee-Khrap! Whether you have enjoyed traveling to Thailand or not, we all know a few famous dishes that have traversed the high seas and made it to us as favorites at the local restaurant. Like most of Asia, some of the most popular dishes are typically found on the street rather than in restaurants, and nothing could be more true than that of Pad Krapow Gai, or Thai Basil Chicken! As one of the more well-known Thai dishes, Thai Basil Chicken manages to combine spicy and savory with a few simple ingredients. You can create a base version of this simple dish for all to enjoy and easily add on the heat with a few extra hot chilis for those who love a bit more spice. Don't believe such a classic and delicious dish can be made so easily at home? Well, stick around as I show you how a few base pantry ingredients can transform your next drab dinner into tasty Thai cuisine....Let's Get Cooking!
Prep for this recipe is quite simple. Like most stir fry dishes, break down your chicken thighs into bite-sized pieces, about an inch or so square. The red bell pepper should be cut into long strips and the onion diced into 1/2-inch dime-sized pieces. The Thai chilis can be either left whole to fish out later or super finely diced to enjoy with the meal. If you can find actual Thai Holy Basil, please use that, but since it is a bit of a regional-specific ingredient regular basil works just fine. You are going to want a lot of it, though, and by a lot I mean about 2 bunches or so to rough chop into at least a cup if not more. The first three cooking steps involve the bell pepper, onion, and chicken so rather than fret trying to cook and prep simultaneously just go ahead and have everything ready before you start cooking. A little bit of work now saves a ton of hassle later. I would suggest waiting to rough chop the basil until the last minute, though, because we want as much of the fresh oils and herb flavor as possible when it gets added.
Begin by heating some oil in a large saucepan or pot over medium to medium-high heat. Once it is hot, add the sliced red bell pepper and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes. Traditionally, Thai Basil Chicken does not include any bell pepper, but I think it adds some nice texture and color so I decided to add it to my white boy version. You can omit it and skip this step if you like, or continue along with me and my recipe. I won't feel to upset if you keep things more classic and legit, pinky promise!
After the red bell pepper has had some time to start breaking down, add the diced onion and continue to sauté the two veggies for an additional 2 minutes or so. They don't need to be cooked through, but we also don't want them raw and crunchy either.
Just as the onions begin to turn translucent and fragrant, add the diced chicken and stir everything together. Let the chicken cook along with the veggies for 8 to 10 minutes until just about half to three-quarters cooked. You can put a lid on your pot to help speed up the cooking process and retain all that moisture as well. Be sure to stir everything every couple of minutes, though, to prevent anything from sticking and burning on the bottom of the pot.
Once the chicken has had 9 or 10 minutes to start cooking, we are going to add all the flavor enhancers to this recipe. Go ahead and add a ton of minced garlic, oyster sauce, soy sauce, touch of sugar, and finally the hot Thai Chilies and stir everything together. If you can't find Thai Chilis locally, feel free to use any other hot pepper you have on hand or just tend to prefer. Jalapenos, serranoes, etc. will all work with this recipe, but keep in mind the varying heat levels and how much you add compared to the base recipe recommendation. You can always add a bit more heat at the end when it's done cooking, but add too much now and you won't be able to enjoy this dish with your mouth on fire. Tread lightly but make sure to get some heat in there as this is a Thai street food dish after all and not your grandma's sloppy joes, eh?
Let these flavors start to soak into the chicken a bit and meld together before adding the chicken stock. Now you want to turn the heat up just a bit to medium-high or even high so the liquids begin to boil and evaporate somewhat. Once again, keep stirring to prevent anything from scorching as the dish really starts to come together now!
Depending on how much natural liquids came out of your veggies and chicken, you may need to help thicken the sauce with a cornstarch slurry. If so, this is the point where you should steal a ladle of the cooking liquids, or cold water, add a tablespoon or so of cornstarch, mix, and pour back into the pot as everything begins to boil. You have to actually cook that slurry to activate it properly. Just keep stirring and watching as the liquids tighten up and thicken into a gravy-like sauce.
Once your liquids reach boiling, you can lower the heat back down and simmer everything for 4 to 6 minutes to ensure the chicken is fully cooked and the sauce thickened. At this point, remove the pot from the heat and quickly rough chop all that wonderful basil. You can reserve a few leaves if you wish for serving, but otherwise add all the basil and stir to incorporate. The heat of the sauce itself should wilt and ever-so-slightly cook the basil enough to release its natural oils and flavor. You don't want to do this step but a few minutes before serving so that basil flavor is fresh and prominent!
And just like that you have created a delicious pot of Thai Basil Chicken in your own kitchen without much fuss or hassle! You can enjoy it as is and save the carbs for another day or serve it with some prepared rice to help soak up those wonderful sauce flavors. Either way you go about it, I can almost guarantee your tastebuds will dance with joy the moment you take your first bite of this amazing street food classic! Hit me up on Instagram at @grubbongrub with your pics and smiling faces and hashtag them #ThaiBasilChicken so everyone can see just how easy it truly is to create an international favorite right in your own family's home kitchen! As always, get in the kitchen and make something tasty....Just Keep Cooking!
THAI BASIL CHICKEN
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