Thai Chicken and Basil

      Title: Chicken (or Scallops) with Fresh Sweet Basil

   Servings:  4
 
    1/2 lb Boneless chicken breast OR        1/4 c  Shredded bamboo shoots
    1/2 lb Scallops                            3 tb Oyster sauce
      2 tb Oil                                 3    Red chile peppers
      3    Garlic cloves (chopped)            15    Basil leaves
      3    Kaffir lime leaves                  2 c  Chopped cabbage (optional)
    1/2 c  Straw mushrooms                
 
  Chop garlic.  Cut lime leaves into strips.  Chop chile peppers.  Thinly
  slice chicken into 2-inch strips (or, if using scallops, rinse and score
  diagonally).  Heat oil.  Add garlic and lime leaves.  Add chicken (or
  scallops), mushrooms, bamboo shoots, oyster sauce, and red chile peppers;
  stir fry for five minutes or until chicken (or scallops) is cooked.  Mix
  in basil and serve on a bed of chopped cabbage (if desired).
  
  Source:  Keo's Thai Cuisine by Keo Sananikone, Ten Speed Press, 1986.

Thai Stir-Fried Beef with Mint

           (NUE GRA PAO)

This is a rich, hearty dish with plenty of typical Thai flavors.
Any kind of beef may be used, but flank steak works particularly
well because it is easy to cut it across the grain, which helps
keep the meat from falling apart during stir-frying and produces
a tender result.  Be sure to serve plenty of rice, because it
helps moderate the hot chilies without detracting from the
flavor.  You may reduce the number of chilies by up to one half,
but traditionally this dish should have a rich, hot chili flavor.

Serves 4 to 6

1 pound flank steak

14 (2 ounces) finely chopped Serrano chilies
1/4 cup (2 ounces) finely chopped garlic
1/2 cup (2 ounces) finely chopped yellow onion

1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 cup water (more if needed in Step 5)
1/2 cup loosely packed mint or basil leaves

Green lettuce leaves

1.  Slice the beef across the grain into strips 1/4 inch thick
and 2 to 3 inches long.  Set aside.

2.  Pound or grind the chilies, garlic, and onion to a coarse
paste in a mortar or blender.  If you use a blender you may need
to add the oil to aid in grinding.

3.  Heat a wok, add the oil, and swirl it over the surface of the
pan.  (Do not add more oil if you have ground the chilies, onion,
and garlic in oil.)  Add the paste from Step 2 and stir-fry until
it is light golden.

4.  Add the beef and stir-fry until it is a uniform tan color,
but do not overcook it.

5.  Add the fish sauce, sugar, water, and mint (or basil) leaves.
More water may be added if the sauce is too dry.  There should be
about 1/2 to 3/4 cup sauce, depending on how much water you
added.

Ahead of time note:  The dish may be prepared a day in advance to
this point.  To do so, proceed through Step 5, omitting the mint
or basil leaves.  When you are ready to serve, heat the mixture
and add the leaves.  If the meat has absorbed the liquid, add
just enough warm water to bring it back to the original
consistency.

6.  Arrange a single layer of lettuce leaves in a serving bowl
and put the beef mixture over them.  Serve the beef immediately
or keep it warm while preparing other dishes.

7.  Serve with rice.

Thai Basil Chicken

1 lb. skinned, boned chicken breasts
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 green onions, chopped
2 TBS peanut or olive oil
4 tiny green or red Asian chili peppers, stemmed and finely chopped
3/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil leaves
2 TBS fish sauce

    Put chicken breasts in freezer until firm but not frozen solid.  Cut
chicken into tiny slivers.  Heat up wok, add oil, and stirfry garlic and
green onions until tender but not brown, about 1-2 minutes.  Add chili
peppers and cook, stirring, about 1 minute more.  Add chicken and stirfry
until cooked through.  Stir in basil and fish sauce, mixing thoroughly.
Serve over rice, if desired.