Thai Basil Stir-Fry
A proper stir-fry is about momentum. Once the wok is hot, you do not stop until the dish is finished.
Gather everything before the fire starts
Because this cooks in under three minutes, you cannot chop or measure while cooking. Have your sauce mixed and your basil washed and dried before you touch the stove.
- Carbon steel wok
- Wide spatula
- Mortar and pestle
What goes in.
- 1 lbcoarsely ground chicken or pork
- 2 cupsfresh holy basil leaves
- 5 clovesgarlic
- 4Thai bird's eye chilies
- 2 tbspfish sauce
- 1 tbspoyster sauce
- 1 tspdark soy sauce
- 1 tsppalm sugar
- 2 tbspneutral oil
Aromatic extraction
Do not chop the garlic and chilies. Pound them together in a mortar until they become a coarse, wet paste to release the oils into the stir-fry base.
The method.
Prepare the aromatics
Pound garlic and chilies into a rough paste using your mortar and pestle.
Mix the sauce
Combine fish sauce, oyster sauce, dark soy, and sugar in a small bowl until the sugar dissolves.
Sear the meat
Get your wok smoking hot. Add the oil, then the garlic-chili paste. Once it smells sharp, add the meat and spread it thin. Do not stir for 30 seconds to allow a brown crust to form.
Glaze
Pour the sauce over the meat and stir constantly until the liquid bubbles and coats the protein in a dark, glossy sheen.
Finish
Kill the heat. Throw in the basil leaves and toss for 10 seconds. The residual heat will wilt them just enough to release their scent without turning them to mush.
Other turns to take.
Classic Street Style
Top with a crispy, lacy-edged fried egg, cooked in a deep pool of oil so the whites bubble up around the edges.
When it doesn't go to plan.
If you cannot find holy basil, Italian basil is a pale substitute; it lacks the necessary spice.
Do not crowd the wok. If you are doubling the recipe, cook in two separate batches.
Keep the basil dry. Wet leaves will steam rather than sear.
The ones that keep coming up.
Why is my stir-fry watery?
You likely added the basil too early or used a pan that wasn't hot enough, which prevented the sauce from caramelizing into a glaze.
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