When I think of Thai food, chili basil dishes like this one, with fresh vegetables and meat, are what immediately come to my mind. For this dish, I started with a basic recipe for basil chili chicken but instead of using sliced chicken, I used ground. This is how they serve the dish at one of my favorite Thai restaurants. I think fresh ground chicken picks up the flavors of the fish sauce, chili, and basil better than sliced chicken breast, which sometimes tastes dry. I also added fresh green beans, straight from Lancaster County, PA.
Above are basil (Thai basil would be better, but I only had regular basil available), sliced red bell peppers, Thai chili peppers, garlic, and green beans.
Here are the sauces - fish sauce, canola oil, and black soy sauce by Healthy Boy.This is a great weeknight dish, because the ingredients are simple to come by and it's quick to cook. Even the ground chicken and Thai peppers, which aren't in all grocery stores, are easy to store. Thai peppers seem to last a while in the refrigerator, and ground chicken can be frozen.
Like many of the things I have made, basil chili stir-fry starts out with hot oil, chopped garlic, and sliced chili peppers in a hot wok. After about fifteen seconds, the ground chicken goes in. After a few minutes, when the chicken is about halfway cooked through, you add the green beans.
I let these cook for about another minute or so, and then added the fish sauce, water, and black soy sauce. After about another half minute, I added the sugar. When the chicken was fully cooked and the green beans were near done also, I added the basil and sliced bell pepper.
Once the basil wilts, the dish is done. I served it on jasmine rice.
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3/4 lb. ground chicken
1/2 lb. green beans
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped garlic
1 tablespoon minced Thai chili pepper
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup basil leaves
9 long thin bell pepper strips
Heat a woke or skillet to medium-high heat. Add the oil to coat the surface. When oil is hot, toss in the garlic, immediately followed by the minced chili. After 15 seconds, add the chicken and stir-fry until about half way cooked, about a minute.
Add the green beans and cook for another minute.
Add the fish sauce, water, and soy sauce, and combine with the meat. Cook another minute. Add the sugar and stir-fry until both the chicken and the green beans are done. Add the pepper strips and the basil and stir-fry until the basil has wilted.
Serve over rice.
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped garlic
1 tablespoon minced Thai chili pepper
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup basil leaves
9 long thin bell pepper strips
Heat a woke or skillet to medium-high heat. Add the oil to coat the surface. When oil is hot, toss in the garlic, immediately followed by the minced chili. After 15 seconds, add the chicken and stir-fry until about half way cooked, about a minute.
Add the green beans and cook for another minute.
Add the fish sauce, water, and soy sauce, and combine with the meat. Cook another minute. Add the sugar and stir-fry until both the chicken and the green beans are done. Add the pepper strips and the basil and stir-fry until the basil has wilted.
Serve over rice.
