Thai Chicken with Basil & Chiles

Thai Chicken with Basil and Chiles (Gai Pad Gra Pow)

Back in 2000, I spent a couple of months in Thailand and had the opportunity to take cooking classes in the northern city of Chiang Mai where I learned to prepare all of the classic Thai dishes. This dish became one of my favorites, but it can be a challenge to find all of the ingredients for it. So when I saw Thai Basil for sale at Little Seed Garden’s booth at the Rhinebeck Farmers’ Market, I decided to pick some up. Since I no longer live in New York City where you can pretty much find any ingredient you could ever want, I suggest some substitutions for some of the harder to find items.

Ingredients:

• 1 Lb Chicken Breast – sliced into bite sized pieces
• 1 Tbsp Coconut Oil or Canola Oil
• 3 Garlic Cloves – minced
• 1 Shallot or Small Onion – thinly sliced
• 4 Small Green Chiles – seeded & minced
• 1/4 Cup Chicken Broth
• 1 Tbsp Fish Sauce
• 2 tsp Palm Sugar, Turbinado Sugar or Light Brown Sugar
• 1 tsp Shoyu or Soy Sauce
• 1/4 tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 1 Bunch Holy or Thai Basil – leaves only, about 1 1/2 loosely packed cups
• 1 Tbsp Fresh Lime Juice

Directions:

Heat a wok until hot. Add the oil and wait until it is hot but not yet smoking. Add the onion and stir fry 1-2 minutes, then add the garlic and stir fry until golden. Add the chicken and stir constantly until it becomes opaque. Add the chiles and stir fry 1-2 minutes. Add the broth, fish sauce, sugar, shoyu and pepper and stir fry for another 1-2 minutes. Add the basil and stir until wilted but still bright green. Turn off the heat and stir in the lime juice.

Serve with rice.

2 Servings

Sources:

• Chicken – Northwind Farms
• Green Garlic – Migliorelli Farm 
• Thai Basil – Little Seed Gardens