Sunday, May 21, 2017

Thai Chicken Basil


It has been too long since I have made some Thai food.  According to Wikipedia, Thai food is one of the most popular cuisines in the world.  



Thailand's most popular dishes are tom yam goong, pad Thai, som tam, massaman curry, and green curry.  I have never eaten tom yam going or som tam.  It's good to know there are still tasty things out there to try.

Thai food often combines sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and spicy.  Thai food can be divided into four different regions: central, northern, northeastern, and southern cuisines.  


Northern Thai food is similar to food from Burma and Yunnan province in China.  Northeastern Thai food is similar to food in southern Laos and Cambodia.  Southern Thai food has coconut milk and turmeric.  It is more similar to Indian or Indonesian cuisine.



Thai food was originally eaten with the right hand while sitting on mats on the floor.  Now people eat with forks and spoons.  Meals often consist of rice and various dishes shared by the group.




I'm a serious fan of Thai food.  It is one of my favorite cuisines.


I found this chicken with basil recipe on Food and Wine's website.  I doubled the recipe and adjusted the quantities a little from the original recipe.  I also added ginger.  It turned out great.


The ingredients are 2 pounds chicken thighs, 4 tablespoons fish sauce, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon water, 2 teaspoons sugar, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, 2 tablespoons cooking oil, 1 large onion, 1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes, 3 minced garlic cloves, and 1 1/2 cups basil leaves.



To make this dish, I combined the chopped chicken, fish sauce, soy sauce, water, and sugar.





I chopped the onion.  I added the oil to a hot skillet and cooked the onion for a few minutes.


After a few minutes, I added ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes.  I cooked this for another minute.



I added the chicken mixture to the skillet.  I cooked the chicken for about five to ten minutes.  The chicken was completely cooked through.


Once the chicken was cooked, I removed the chicken from the heat.  I stirred thinly slices basil into the dish.

I served the chicken over rice.


 This was a fantastic meal.  It was savory, sweet, and salty.


I really enjoyed the briny and developed flavor of the fish sauce in this dish.


The basil added freshness and brightness.


The chicken was tender and moist.  


This dish had wonderful depth of flavor.  


It was scrumptious and delicious.


 I will absolutely make this again.  It was satisfying and toothsome.




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