Try a taste of Thai street food
THIS traditional Thai street food, called gai pad krapow, features the bright flavor of basil in three ways. First, we ground a cup of basil leaves in the food processor with garlic and Thai chiles for a stir-fry base for the chicken. We combined a tablespoon of that base mixture with fish sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, and vinegar and then added it toward the end of cooking as a pungent finishing sauce. Finally, we stirred another cup of fresh basil leaves into the dish right before serving for a big pop of herbal flavor. This dish is normally very spicy; we halved the amount of chiles, cutting the amount of sugar by half as well to keep the flavors balanced.
Thai-style Chicken with Basil
Total time: 40 minutes
If fresh Thai chiles are unavailable, substitute two serranos or one medium jalapeño. In Thailand, red pepper flakes and sugar are passed at the table, along with extra fish sauce and white vinegar, so that the dish can be adjusted to suit individual tastes. Serve with steamed rice and vegetables, if desired.
2 cups fresh basil leaves
6 green or red Thai chiles, stemmed
3 garlic cloves, peeled
2 tablespoons fish sauce, plus extra for serving
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon sugar, plus extra for serving
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar, plus extra for serving
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
3 shallots, sliced thin 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Red pepper flakes
Pulse 1 cup basil, Thai chiles, and garlic in food processor until finely chopped, 6 to 10 pulses, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Transfer 1 tablespoon basil mixture to small bowl and stir in 1 tablespoon fish sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, and vinegar; set aside. Transfer remaining basil mixture to 12-inch nonstick skillet.
Pulse chicken and remaining 1 tablespoon fish sauce in now-empty food processor until chicken is chopped into approximately ¼-inch pieces, 6 to 8 pulses. Transfer to bowl and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Stir shallots and oil into basil mixture in skillet. Heat over medium-low heat (mixture should start to sizzle after about 1½ minutes; if it doesn’t, adjust heat accordingly), stirring constantly, until garlic and shallots are golden brown, 5 to 8 minutes.
Add chicken, increase heat to medium, and cook, stirring and breaking up chicken with rubber spatula, until only traces of pink remain, 2 to 4 minutes. Add reserved basil– fish sauce mixture and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until chicken is no longer pink, about 1 minute longer. Stir in remaining 1 cup basil and cook, stirring constantly, until basil is wilted, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Serve immediately, passing pepper flakes, extra fish sauce, extra sugar, and extra vinegar separately. Serves 4