Thai Chilli and Basil Chicken help?

intheclouds

Hi,
I am always trying to make Thai Chilli and Basil Chicken. Ive had it in various Thai restaurants and clearly I am missing some element of commonality. When I eat it out there is a distinctive taste. When I make it - well its tasty and its chilli and basil flavoured but its just not the same!

Any ideas?

The most recent recipe I tried last night was Ken Homs and used fish sauce, dark soy, shallots (as well as chillis, chicken, basil etc...).

I plan to try it with Oyster sauce instead of fish sauce. Also - I have just used regular basil but could it be that I am missing the thai basil?

Recipes welcome.....

shrapnel222

intheclouds wrote: »

Hi,
I am always trying to make Thai Chilli and Basil Chicken. Ive had it in various Thai restaurants and clearly I am missing some element of commonality. When I eat it out there is a distinctive taste. When I make it - well its tasty and its chilli and basil flavoured but its just not the same!

Any ideas?

The most recent recipe I tried last night was Ken Homs and used fish sauce, dark soy, shallots (as well as chillis, chicken, basil etc...).

I plan to try it with Oyster sauce instead of fish sauce. Also - I have just used regular basil but could it be that I am missing the thai basil?

Recipes welcome.....

onion? garlic? lemongrass? a tiny bit of sugar? (wouldn't use soy or oyster personally)

Cakerbaker

This recipe is from a cookery course I did in Thailand. For 2 people it's 5 cloves garlic, 2-3 hot chillies and half an onion, stir fry, add chicken and stir then veg. Then, 1 tbsp fish sauce, 1 tbsp oyster sauce, half tsp sugar, followed by a little water. Add cup of basil leaves, stir and serve! Good luck!

Keane2baMused

Thai basil and ordinary are totally different. Use the thai version.

intheclouds

Where can you get thai basil? Or lemon grass?

cakerbaker, Ill try that one out. I use honey instead of sugar usually but thats not THE distinctive flavour Im missing.

I am wondering if its the oyster sauce....

Cakerbaker

Where are you based? I'm in Dublin and there are a lot of Asian shops around the city that sell ingredients like lemon grass etc. I think tesco might do dried lemon grass but not sure about the Thai basil?

shrapnel222

Cakerbaker wrote: »

Where are you based? I'm in Dublin and there are a lot of Asian shops around the city that sell ingredients like lemon grass etc. I think tesco might do dried lemon grass but not sure about the Thai basil?

large tescos definitely do fresh lemongrass. unlikely you'll find thai basil elsewhere other than asian supermarkets

The Hill Billy

I use the Rosa's Thai Café recipe when I make a beef version of this.

Ingredients are as follows...
1 tsp of Sugar
1 tbsp of Dark Soy Sauce
1 tbsp of Oyster Sauce
1 Chopped Red Chilli
2 tsp of Chopped Garlic
1 tbsp of Fish Sauce
1 tbsp of Lime Juice
250g of Beef
Half Chopped Onion
Basil Leaves

I also like adding a handful of julienned bamboo shoots to this.

intheclouds

Im in west dublin, there is an asian supermarket in dublin 12 but it looks like they only have thai sweet basil on their website (as opposed to holy basil).

Some good ideas coming up here, I will try all recipes offered over the next while anyway!

I tend to bulk it out with sweet peppers, scallions, bamboo shoots etc also - but none of these are the distinctive flavour Im after.

The Hill Billy

A hint of That 7 Spice maybe?

intheclouds

The Hill Billy wrote: »

A hint of That 7 Spice maybe?

Used that last night - thats not it either.

Im really feeling it has got to be oyster sauce OR the thai basil - because they are really the only two items I havent tried at all over the past while.

Im very tempted to ask for the recipe in the restaurant I most often frequent that serves it!

B0jangles

Sounds like it is thai sweet basil (also called Horapa) you are missing - it has a very distinctive aniseedy flavour that normal italian basil doesn't have. It might be thai holy basil (kra pao) but I've personally never come across it anywhere here in Ireland. Last year pots of thai sweet basil occasionally turned up in Lidl and Aldi since one of their suppliers was experimenting with growing it, but I haven't seen it at all this year

You might pick it up in the fresh veg section in one of the bigger asian markets, but I've found that pretty hit and miss as well

On the oyster sauce front, I don't think you can do better that thai Maekrua brand:



It's 30% oysters, compared to 3% or even 0.3% - both of which I've seen on the ingredient lists of standard brand oyster sauces.
Maekrua is in pretty much every asian supermarket I've been in

(I made SO MUCH thai basil chicken last year because I had three huge pots of thai basil growing in my sitting room - I swear I almost cried when it all died off in the winter... If you can get hold of it growing, do so - it is a lot sturdier and easier to maintain than normal italian basil which I've never been able to keep growing happily for more than a few weeks)

Edit: Here's the recipe I normally use when I can get hold of the right basil!

Rasa malaysia wrote:

Thai Basil Chicken Recipe (Gai Pad Krapow)
Ingredients:
10 oz boneless and skinless chicken thighs or chicken breast (ground)
4 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
2 shallots (finely chopped)
1 1/4 tablespoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon palm sugar
1/2 teaspoon kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)
1 big bunch of Thai basil leaves (stems removed)
6 bird’s eye chilies (chopped and pounded with a mortar and pestle) or 1-2 fresh jalapeno cut into slivers
2 dashes ground white pepper
2 tablespoons oil
Method:
Add oil into a heated wok, follow by chopped garlic and shallots. Stir fry the garlic and shallots until aromatic, then add the chicken meat into the wok. Use the spatula to quickly stir-fry and break the ground chicken meat into small lumps. When the chicken meat changes color, toss in the chilies and the seasonings (fish sauce, palm sugar, and sweet soy sauce) and continue to stir-fry. Add in the basil leaves and do a few quick stirs until the basil leaves are wilted and you smell the exotic fragrance of the basil leaves. Sprinkle two dashes of pepper powder into the dish, do a final stir, dish out and serve immediately

intheclouds

Aniseedy! Yes! This could be the answer!

Right, I will resume my hunt for Thai sweet basil (think a place in D12 has it).

Keane2baMused

intheclouds wrote: »

Im in west dublin, there is an asian supermarket in dublin 12 but it looks like they only have thai sweet basil on their website (as opposed to holy basil).

Some good ideas coming up here, I will try all recipes offered over the next while anyway!

I tend to bulk it out with sweet peppers, scallions, bamboo shoots etc also - but none of these are the distinctive flavour Im after.

Thai sweet basil will be fine

littlemsbland

Cakerbaker wrote: »

Where are you based? I'm in Dublin and there are a lot of Asian shops around the city that sell ingredients like lemon grass etc. I think tesco might do dried lemon grass but not sure about the Thai basil?

Tescos do sticks of lemongrass in their veg section. I've never see Thai basil there.

Marcusm

Tamarind sauce

intheclouds

Went to an asian supermarket over the weekend - they didnt have the thai basil though

But I did get the oyster sauce recommended in this thread - havent tried it yet though.

Also got a variety of funky fresh chillis.

The hunt for Thai basil continues.....

Curry Addict

i think it might be maggi seasoning. I had this dish a couple of times and the maggi added the magic to the dish.

RJohnG

intheclouds wrote: »

Hi,
I am always trying to make Thai Chilli and Basil Chicken. Ive had it in various Thai restaurants and clearly I am missing some element of commonality. When I eat it out there is a distinctive taste. When I make it - well its tasty and its chilli and basil flavoured but its just not the same!

Any ideas?

The most recent recipe I tried last night was Ken Homs and used fish sauce, dark soy, shallots (as well as chillis, chicken, basil etc...).

I plan to try it with Oyster sauce instead of fish sauce. Also - I have just used regular basil but could it be that I am missing the thai basil?

Recipes welcome.....

Grapow you mean? I'll get you the recipe. It's a very popular dish in Thailand. Everywhere serves it I know of.

Is this it? Sorry about the resolution of the pic.

intheclouds

RJohnG wrote: »

Grapow you mean? I'll get you the recipe. It's a very popular dish in Thailand. Everywhere serves it I know of.

Is this it? Sorry about the resolution of the pic.

I dont know if its called Grapow.

Here is a pic of it (from a place i eat it in): http://www.sawadee.ie/shopdetail?product_id=57

The pic you posted looks like minced chicken, i havent eaten it minced before.

But yes, any recipe welcome!

RJohnG

intheclouds wrote: »

I dont know if its called Grapow.

Here is a pic of it (from a place i eat it in): http://www.sawadee.ie/shopdetail?product_id=57

The pic you posted looks like minced chicken, i havent eaten it minced before.

But yes, any recipe welcome!

Wow, 14 Euro 95 cents. In Thailand that costs 40 Baht. About 80 odd British pence. Currently 53 Baht to the £ last time I looked.

intheclouds

RJohnG wrote: »

Wow, 14 Euro 95 cents. In Thailand that costs 40 Baht. About 80 odd British pence. Currently 53 Baht to the £ last time I looked.

Thats not even a particularly expensive restaurant!

RJohnG

intheclouds wrote: »

Thats not even a particularly expensive restaurant!

Wow. We're coming to Eire:)

OK, I've showed a Thai cook your photo. And I've had my bum slapped. It's not Grapow. She said She would need to taste it to know exactly what they put in it. To replicate it. A sensible reply of course.

I will however post a recipe for Grapow and you could try it. But using sliced chicken, not minced. She's cooking at a nearby restaurant at the moment but I'll annoy the life out of Her for the recipe. It's up shortly.

RJohnG

Finally tracked Her down. OK, this is how Thais cook 'Grapow' which is also a Thai chili and basil dish.

One breast of chicken sliced.
2 red spicy Thai chilies finely chopped
3 cloves of minced garlic
2 Thai green beans cut about 1 cm pieces
Handful of sweet Thai basil
2 Tbsp veg oil
1/4 Tsp Thai dark soy sauce (healthy boy brand)
1 Tsp light Thai soy sauce (healthy boy brand)
1/4 Tsp MSG
2 Tbsp Thai oyster sauce
Pinch of chicken stock powder
1/2 to 1 Tsp sugar
Splash of water

Cook it.

Heat the wok then add oil. Medium heat.
Add garlic and chili cook for a few seconds, until aromatic. (don't burn)
Add chicken. Stir fry until cooked
Add Thai green bean
Add dark soy, light soy, oyster sauce
Pinch of chicken powder
Add MSG
Add sugar
Splash of water
Keep stirring to reduce the sauce
Add basil and stir a couple of times

*You can try to recreate your dish by adding less water as there doesn't appear to be much sauce in the image. It's been stirred in and reduced. Also add more chilies. It's important to only use Thai soyas and condiments. Also Thai chilies and basil. I'd guess that chicken has probably been marinated in light soy, sugar and maybe cornstarch. Sometimes they add some chopped onion in this dish.*