Thai-style Chicken and Mushroom with Basil
This recipe is modeled after pad krapow gai, a popular preparation in the Thai repertoire that's prepared with chicken and basil. Use ground turkey thigh, if you like. Add a fried egg for each person for extra richness and fun. Serve with lots of rice to absorb all the punchy flavors.
Servings: 2
Ingredients
- 6 ounces boneless skinless chicken thigh or ground dark meat chicken
- 6 ounces King oyster mushroom, stems and caps chopped
- Scant 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon Thai black soy sauce, or 1 tablespoon regular soy sauce plus 1 teaspoon dark molasses
- 2 teaspoons water
- 6 garlic cloves, halved lengthwise and gently crushed with the flat side of a knife
- ½ cup thinly sliced green beans (any kind or chopped celery
- ½ cup thinly sliced yellow onion
- 2 to 5 Thai or small serrano chiles, thinly sliced
- 1 ½ cups lightly packed holy basil, lemon basil, or mint leaves
- 3 or 4 dried Thai, Mexican puya, or Japones chilies
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil, such as canola or peanut
Instructions
- If starting from boneless, skinless thigh, cut it into chunks the size of cherries. Keep any fat for succulence. Using a small or regular size food processor, pulse the chicken to a coarse, chopped texture. Transfer to a bowl and set aside near the mushroom. If starting from ground chicken, break it up into chunks, then set aside
- For the seasoning sauce, stir together the fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar (or molasses), and water. Taste and adjust for a salty-sweet flavor. Set near the stove with the remaining ingredients.
- In a large wok or skillet, heat the whole dried chiles and oil over medium-low heat, cooking for several minutes, stirring, until dark-brown and fragrant. Leaving the oil in the pan, use a slotted spoon to transfer the chilies to a paper-towel-lined plate. Once cool, break the stem, shake out the seeds, then coarsely crumble chilies, dropping them into the seasoning sauce.
- Reheat the skillet over medium heat. When barely shimmering, add the garlic, stirring until light golden, about 45 seconds. Increase the heat to medium-high, then add the mushroom, stirring, until glistening and slightly softened, about 2 minutes.Add the chicken, beans, onions, and fresh chiles. Stir constantly, breaking up chicken, until it’s just barely cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the seasoning sauce and cook until the liquid is absorbed and no longer visible, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and stir in the herb leaves, cooking for about 15 seconds, until wilted and fragrant. Transfer to a shallow bowl and serve.
