Remember my Thai Basil Sangria post from a couple months ago, in which I became excited by the prospect of being able to grow herbs indoors during the winter? Well, that excitement might have been premature.
In early November sun was still streaming in through the windows for 8+ hours a day. It was still warm enough that I was able to crack open the window to let in fresh air. Not anymore, on both accounts. And my window plants, consequently, have been fading, even with religious watering.
All my herbs, including the Thai basil plant that was so lively before, are nearing the end. So for lunch one day, I decided to use up as much of it as possible while it was still somewhat healthy. I didn’t want to trek to the store to pick up curry paste, so this Thai basil chicken fried rice was the answer. And it made me wonder why I didn’t make fried rice with Thai basil more often. I used up not only most of the basil but also some leftover chicken in the fridge. Best of all, I spent only 5 minutes in front of the stove for a very tasty lunch.
I still have a bit of Thai basil left. Let’s see…what else to make with it, other than more sangrias?
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Thai Basil Chicken Fried Rice
Serves 4 as a side, or 2 as a meal
- 3 cups leftover white rice
- 2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1/2 pound chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces about 1-inch in diameter
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon sugar
- 1/3 cup chopped Thai basil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Break up the cold cooked rice into smaller clumps.
- Heat a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat until a bead of water sizzles and evaporates on contact. Add the oil and swirl to coat the base. Add the garlic, shallots, and optional crushed red pepper and stir-fry for about 30 seconds, until just aromatic. Add the chicken and stir-fry until no longer pink, about 2 minutes.
- Toss in the rice and break up any remaining clumps with a spatula. Stir in the fish sauce, soy sauce, and sugar. Add the chopped Thai basil. Continue to stir-fry until the rice starts to turn golden, about 2 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to bowls and serve hot.
Oh yes please! I love Thai basil. ne of my favorite Thai dishes is a dish with ground chicken, bell pepper, and Thai basil, which I bet has similar flavors to this recipe.
Kalyn – Larb gai! I love that dish too, especially with homemade toasted rice powder.
It’s too bad about your Thai basil plant. Basil is usually quite finicky when it comes to growing indoors. Up here in Canada we have the plants in the grocery stores – as if they will grow in the middle of January!
I love your chicken rice. I will be using it in the future!
Jason – Stores here still sell herbs too. I will have to resist buying them until the spring. Which is hard, because a plant costs the same as one pack of fresh herbs that last a few days at most.
@Diana – I hear you there. That’s exactly why I buy the plants. LOL
This looks so delicious – and I have all the ingredients on hand! Hmmm… except fresh Thai basil, but I do have dried Thai basil in my pantry. Now I just need to make some rice to have leftover :-) I have a feeling I am going to be bookmarking all of your recipes.
Katherine – Please do! And let me know how the rice turns out with dried Thai basil!
Thanks! This is very timely. I would never have thought of using Thai basil in fried rice! Nor fish sauce either. This is going to be fun. I have everything but the shallot and chicken. Do have onion I could use instead this time, and maybe I’ll try a scrambled or fried egg in place of chicken this time, just so I can go ahead and see what fried rice with thai basil and fish sauce taste like! lol.
I tried this today with dried Thai basil and it came out wonderful! I used about 2 tablespoons, maybe a bit more. In addition, I used only 1/2 teaspoon of fish sauce, as my Husband’s palette is very sensitive to it, and halved the peanut oil to cut calories. It came out great and I’ll be making this recipe again.
If anyone’s curious, my version of this recipe was about 160 calories per 3 ounce serving…
Oh, and I added two scrambled eggs! Sorry, forgot that in my comment. :)
fantastic: dinner for tomorrow night :)
Perfect use for Thai Basil – I will definitely have to try this soon.
Ummm, this looks amazing! I’m a sucker for basil. I’ve never worked with Thai basil before though. I will have to check into that.