Spicy Chicken with Basil

This is a quick and easy dish which is a favorite of the people of downtown Bangkok. Sometimes it is served over rice with a fried egg.

Ingredients:

6 garlic cloves (kratiem), minced
4 shallots, minced
12 mixed green and red jarapeno peppers (prik chee fa and prik chee fa daeng), sliced
1 teaspoon canned green peppercorns
1 tablespoon oil
1 lb (500 g) ground/minced chicken
1/4 cup (2 fl oz/60 ml) fish sauce (nam pla)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup hot basil leaves (bai ga-prow)

How to cook:

1. Place the garlic, shallots,peppers and peppercorns in a mortar and mash with a paste until a paste is formed.

2. Heat a large sauté pan to medium-high heat and add the oil. Add the garlic paste and stir for 1 minute, then add the ground chicken, fish sauce and sugar. Continue to cook until the sauce is reduced. Toss in the Basil leaves.

3. As a luncheon dish, serve over rice with a fried egg.

4. As a dinner dish, serve separately with rice and with an accompaniment such as hot and sour shrimp soup (Tom Yam Goong)

SERVES 4

Information from: "Thailand the Beautiful Cookbook". Buy this and other cooks book at amazon.com.