Thai-Style Chicken with Basil

This was my first attempt at making Thai food at home and this was a nice simple dish to start off with. My family and I really enjoy Thai food and love the flavor of basil, so this dish was well received by all of us. The photos don't look like much, but this was a really tasty chicken dish.

We added some cashews for crunch.

Thai-Style Chicken with Basil
2 cups fresh basil leaves, tightly packed
3 medium garlic cloves, peeled
6 green or red Thai chiles (or 2 serrano chiles), stemmed and cut into ½-inch pieces
3 tablespoons fish sauce plus extra for serving
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon white vinegar plus extra for serving
4 teaspoons sugar plus extra for serving
3 medium shallots, peeled and thinly sliced (about ½ cup)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil1
½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into
2-inch pieces
Red pepper flakes for serving

1. Place ½ cup basil leaves, garlic, and chiles in food processor and pulse until finely chopped, 6 to 8 one-second pulses, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula once during processing. Transfer 1 tablespoon mixture to small bowl and stir in 2 tablespoons fish sauce, oyster sauce, vinegar, and sugar; set aside. Transfer remaining mixture to medium bowl and stir in shallots and oil; set aside. Do not wash processor bowl.
2. In now empty food processor, pulse chicken and remaining 1 tablespoon fish sauce until meat is chopped into approximate ¼-inch pieces, 6 to 8 one-second pulses. Transfer to medium bowl and marinate, refrigerated, for 15 minutes.
3. Transfer shallot-chili mixture in 12-inch heavy-bottomed non-stick skillet and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until garlic and shallots are golden brown, 5 to 8 minutes.
4. Add chicken, increase heat to medium, and cook, stirring and breaking up chicken with potato masher or wooden spoon, until only traces of pink remain, 2 to 4 minutes. Add fish sauce-chili mixture and continue to cook, stirring constantly until chicken is no longer pink, about 1 minute. Stir in remaining 1 ½ cup basil leaves and cook, stirring constantly, until basil is wilted, about 30 seconds. Serve, passing extra fish sauce, sugar, crushed red pepper, and vinegar at the table.

Governor's Chicken

I've been neglecting this blog a bit, so I decided to flip through my collection of recipes and start posting some of my tried and true favorites. I thought I would start with this simple and delicious stir-fry. The sauce is very versatile, so you can use any combination of vegetables and meat and always get a yummy result.

Governor's Chicken

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1 egg white

4 tablespoons cornstarch

2 cups plus

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 medium green bell peppers, seeded and cut into 1-inch diamond-shape pieces

1 medium red bell pepper, optional, seeded and cut into 1-inch diamond-shape pieces

1 bunch scallions, peeled and cut on the diagonal into 1/2-inch pieces

1 tablespoon finely minced fresh ginger

2 dried hot red chile peppers, or to taste and tolerance

1 cup cocktail peanuts

Sauce:

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons dry sherry

3 garlic cloves, crushed and minced

2 teaspoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

Cut the chicken into 3/4-inch cubes. Combine the cubes with the egg white, 2 tablespoons of water and 3 tablespoons of the cornstarch. Mix well. Heat the 2 cups oil in a wok to 280 degrees F, or put 1 piece of chicken in the oil and, when the bubbles rise from it like Champagne bubbles, add the rest of the chicken. Stir the chicken slowly and cook until the pink is no longer visible. Drain in a colander.

Combine the bell peppers, scallions and ginger in a colander. Rinse in cold water. With a pair of scissors, cut the hot peppers lengthwise and then cut again width wise, flaking the bits on top of the vegetables in the colander. Combine the soy sauce, sherry, garlic, sugar, salt, 2 tablespoons of cold water, and the remaining 1 tablespoon cornstarch. Mix well.

Heat the 3 teaspoons oil in a wok until smoking. Stir-fry the vegetables for 5 minutes, or until bright in color. Add the chicken cubes and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add the cocktail peanuts and toss 3 times.

Restir the sauce and add it to the chicken and vegetables. Toss 5 times quickly and serve.

Courtesy: Stuart Chang Berman, Potsticker Chronicles.

* You can use tofu, pork, shrimp or steak in place of the chicken or a combination of these.

* In a pinch, I just make the sauce and throw in whatever vegetables I have on hand. I heat a few tablespoons of oil in a wok and toss in my cut up veggies. I add the minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds, then add the sauce.

* Read the directions all the way through. There are some extra ingredients that go into the sauce!