Thai Basil Chicken

This Thai Basil Chicken recipe will take you to your favorite Thai restaurant without ever leaving your own home kitchen.

The original recipe uses some unique Thai ingredients that you may not be able to find in your local grocery store. I have adapted the recipe to be sure that you can make it with ingredients that you will have no trouble finding during your regular grocery shopping trip. The flavor is still amazing.

Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 shallots, finely diced
• 1 lb. ground chicken
• 1 to 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flake
• 1 1/4 Tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon sweet soy sauce
• 2 cups, packed, Thai basil leaves, stems removed, leaves left whole
• 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

Preparation:

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and shallots. Saute just until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the chicken and saute until fully cooked through. Add the red pepper flake (a little goes a long way, so if you don't like too much heat, start with just a small pinch. You can always add more if you want to turn up the heat a bit). Add the fish sauce, brown sugar and sweet soy sauce. Saute 2 to 3 more minutes. Add the basil leaves and stir just until the leaves have wilted. Season with white pepper and serve immediately.

This recipe is great served with white rice.