Phat Kee Mao Gai (Thai stir-fried spicy chicken with basil)
March 24, 2011 § 1 Comment
I don’t know about you, but Thai food is an addiction of mine that I succumb to several times a week. I also have attempted to make Thai-dishes in my kitchen that have been ultimate fails, I can’t seem to recreate that amazing restaurant-flavor at home! That is…until I found this recipe and tinkered around with it, and came up with something really delicious a few days ago.
I love basil, and even moreso I love Thai-basil, which feels like basil taken up a few notches. I’m sure that this recipe could be done with American basil if you can’t find Thai-basil in your Asian supermarket, but perhaps add more of it than the recipe calls for because of the milder properties of American basil. But definitely try to find and use Thai basil.
The prik-khing paste can be found in the curry/wasabi aisle of the grocery store and I’ve added a picture of it so that you won’t be completely lost looking for this Thai-product.
Also, I added eggplant to this dish because I seriously love eggplant. I am sure you can add or not put in any vegetables in this dish, but it’s up to you really. I wish I put in more eggplant, as I only put in one, so next time I am definitely going to add more.
I also used two green serrano peppers and three red chili peppers which weren’t that spicy…but I know I have an abnormal spice-resistance so only start with a little and add more if you can handle the heat.
Phat kee mao gai (Thai stir-fried spicy chicken with chili and basil)
Adapted from Cooking with Kai
Ingredients
- 1 lb of boneless chicken thigh-meat, minced and sliced into tiny pieces
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon prik khing paste
- 2 Chinese eggplants, washed and sliced in half and then into diagonal slices
- 1/4 cup of water
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce (use 1/2 tablespoon if you don’t really like it)
- 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- 1 cup of packed Thai basil leaves
- green and red chili peppers (according to how spicy you want it) sliced into diagonal pieces
Directions
Heat oil in large wok or pan in medium-high heat. Add the prik khing paste and stir until fragrant, around 20-30 seconds.
Add the chicken and cook for around 5 minutes until almost done, and then add the eggplants. Cook together until the eggplant is cooked through, another 4-5 minutes.
Add water, fish sauce, oyster sauce, and sugar, and stir until well-mixed and coated over the chicken and eggplant. Stir for another 30 seconds.
Add the basil, red and green chili peppers, and stir for 15 seconds. Then take off the heat and serve with rice.
Enjoy this super quick, easy, and delicious recipe!
my golden hour 
This dish isn’t really Pad Kee Mao (Drunken stirfry). Pad kee mao doesn’t use the prik khing paste (so you technically your dish resemble Gai pad prik khing instead). In Thailand, pad kee mao always contain green, unriped peppercorn (the peppers are still attached the stems, and the whole stems are used). And typical vegetables for pad kee mao are babycorn, straw mushroom and sliced carrots. Also, if you can find it, Holy basil (kraprao, กะเพรา) is preferred for this dish instead of the Thai basil (horapa, โหระพา). I know alot of these ingredients might be hard to find outside of Thailand, but if you can find them, definitely give them a try.