Monday Morsel from Mom (8th Edition) - Thai Basil Chicken

As promised, I'm here to share the recipe for the OH SO YUMMY Thai Basil Chicken my mom made when I was home last week.

It's a very simple recipe with lots of flavor. The hardest (and most time consuming) part is cutting the chicken into tiny thin slices so that it will cook up quickly when you toss it in the pan.

Ingredients:

* 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
* 1 T. oil
* 3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
* 2 jalapenos or Serrano peppers, seeded & chopped
* 1/3 c chicken broth (or dissolve 1/2 t. granulated bouillon in 1/3 c water)
* 2 T. fish sauce
* 2 t. soy sauce
* 2 t. sugar
* 1/4 t. black pepper
* 1 to 1 1/2 cups fresh basil (can use mixture Asian & sweet- don’t chop)
* 1 lime cut in wedges
* White rice (preferably sticky rice)


Directions:

1. First, cut chicken lengthwise into very thin slices, like so...



Then take each slice.....


And cut lengthwise again into thin strips, like so...


And pile them up, like so...



2. Prepare rice according to package directions. Meanwhile, combine broth, soy sauce fish sauce, sugar and pepper in a small bowl and set aside.



3. Heat heavy skillet or wok until almost smoking. Add oil and stir fry chicken with garlic until chicken is opaque- about 3-4 minutes.


4. Add the peppers and stir fry another minute.


5. Pour sauce over the chicken; stir to combine.


6. Add basil and cook about 30 seconds- just long enough to wilt the leaves.


7. Serve with sticky rice and lime wedges to squeeze over the top.



My Tid-Bits:

* Freezing the chicken for about 30 minutes makes it easier to cut. Also, the chicken can be cut up in advance & stashed in the refrigerator until you are ready to use.

* I realize that some people have a severe aversion to raw meat, especially chicken. If that's you, I apologize because there's no real alternative to getting your hand covered in ooey gooey raw chicken. (That is unless you have friends over for dinner & when they ask "Can I do anything to help?", you say "Why, yes you can!" and have them to the slicing for you).

* I didn't use NEARLY the amount of basil that my mom did. We both grow our own herbs & apparently several of her basil plants were in need of some severe pruning because she came in with a HUGE amount of basil. Her "1.5 cups of basil" was probably more like 2.5 or 3 cups. We used ALL of it & boy was it yummy. So, use as much as you'd like. Just be sure it's AT LEAST 1 cup because it wilts down just like spinach.

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