Thai Chicken with Basil

NPR Cooks!, p. 51

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 cloves crushed garlic

1 or 2 jalapeno peppers or 1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

4 boneless chicken breast halves, sliced thinly

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

1 cup fresh basil leaves or ¼ cup dried basil flakes

My solution for serving oyster sauce to my kosher-style partner.

Because it comes together quickly at the end, you’ll want to get all the ingredients ready in advance (combine the oyster sauce, soy sauce, and sugar in a cup so you won’t have to measure while stirring).

In a large frying pan, heat oil. Saute garlic and peppers for about a minute over medium-high heat until the garlic starts to turn brown. 

Yummy smells all around.

Add chicken, stirring constantly until you see no more pink. Stir in oyster sauce, soy sauce, and sugar, and cook for about 1 minute, then taste (you may want to add a few drops more of oyster sauce). Add fresh basil leaves and remove from heat as soon as they start to wilt (about 30 seconds). Serve immediately over rice.

Or rice noodles, as the case may be.

My Rating: 3/5 "So when Kessler's didn't have any fresh basil I thought, well, good thing the recipe offered a dried alternative. But the dried substitute did NOT, I repeat, did NOT compare to what the fresh flavor would have been. It also made the texture really weird. It's sad, because the Amazon reviews for this cookbook mention this specific recipe as being absolutely amazing, and since it wasn't I feel like I didn't get the real effect. Live and learn and don't substitute the dried stuff, I guess."