Recipe: Thai Basil Chicken

Arguably the gold standard of Thai food. An incredibly fast and easy recipe to follow with no hunting down unusual ingredients!

Mark Wiens

1. Heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a wok or frying pan on high-medium heat.

2. When the oil is hot and sizzling, drop in 1 egg. let it sizzle and bubble up, and at the same time, splash some of the hot oil onto the top of the egg (don't flip the egg, unless you really want to).

3. After the egg looks about right to your cooked likeness, take it out, drain the excess oil, and put it on a plate for later.

4. Cut 200 gms chicken into small bite sized pieces.

5. Rinse and peel 5 garlic cloves and 4 thai chillies, and pound them in a mortar and pestle (alternatively you can just mince them with a knife).

6. Heat your wok on high heat, and add about 1 tbsp oil to the pan.

7. When the oil is hot, add the pound chillies and garlic. stir fry them for about 20 seconds or so until they get really fragrant.

8. Toss in your chicken. keep stir frying continuously. cook the chicken until it's just about fully cooked all the way through.

9. Add 1 tsp of oyster sauce, 1/2 tsp light soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, and finally a splash of dark soy sauce. keep stir frying for about another 30 seconds.

10. Grab a handful of thai holy basil leaves, toss it into the pan, fold it into the chicken, and then immediately turn off the heat.

Tip: the holy basil really only needs to cook for about 5 seconds, and it will continue to wilt and cook from the existing heat of the chicken. this step is important because if you cook the basil for too long, it loses some of its glorious flavor and gets slightly chewy.

11. Thai basil chicken is ready to serve!