San Francisco, where I lived for nearly two decades, was a food paradise. Whatever food you could imagine, you could easily find. On the other hand, in Italy, unless you are in a major city, it is difficult to find anything other than regional Italian food. This is why when I travel to bigger cities within or outside of Italy, I tend to focus on international food that I can’t find here. Thai food is one of the cuisines that I miss the most since leaving San Francisco years ago. Finding specialized ingredients in Italy can also be a challenge unless you go to smaller ethnic markets like our beloved Sri Lanka market here in Lucca.
I frequently order two dishes when I go to a Thai restaurant, the first being coconut milk curry with vegetables and chicken (You can find the recipe here). The other dish is minced chicken with basil, known as Pad Krapow Gai. This recipe may not be 100% authentically Thai, but unless you are a Thai food specialist, this recipe should hit the mark. Is this appropriating someone else’s culture? Insert eyeroll here. If I want Thai food I must travel outside of my city or make it myself. And If I make it myself, I’m going to share it with you!
Besides the terrific spicy flavor, another bonus of Pad Krapow Gai is that it can be on your table within 20 minutes. In other words, in the amount of time it takes to cook rice to accompany this dish. This recipe also uses a variation of a recipe I published a short while ago, all-purpose stir-fry sauce.
NOTE: Pad Krapow Gai should ideally be made with Thai Basil, a spicier version of regular basil which is often used for pesto (Thai basil has pointy end leaves, and regular bail has rounded edges). Thai basil is particularly difficult to find where I live so regular basil will have to do, and I compensate for the difference with added red chili pepper.
Arliano Update (Aggiornamento Arliano):
It hasn’t rained in over 5 weeks except for once. Our garden’s irrigation system is working well but the summer dry, hot winds can burn tender vegetables. I’m telling myself that I’m letting the weeds grow to lock in the moisture and protect what’s growing, but that is a lie. Even at 7:30 a.m. when it’s cooler, working in the garden yields more mosquito bites (even with long-sleeved shirts and a head net!) than zucchini. True story.
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Ingredients
- 1 lb (16 oz) chicken breast, finally diced or minced
- 1 cup basil leaves (preferably Thai Basil but if not regular will do), stems removed
- 1 tablespoon peanut or sunflower oil
- 1 modified batch all-purpose stir fry sauce (3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce; 1/4 cup chicken, vegetable, or beef broth; 1 tablespoon brown sugar (light or dark is fine); 1 tablespoon potato or cornstarch; 3 cloves (about 1 tablespoon) garlic, minced; 1 teaspoon sesame oil; 1/2 teaspoon ground red chili flakes; and 1/2 teaspoon oyster or fish sauce)
Directions
- Make all-purpose stir-fry sauce by whisking together in a bowl all the stir-fry sauce ingredients, above
- Finely dice or mince chicken breasts
- Chop , chiffonade, or tear the basil leaves by hand and set them aside
- Bring a large frying pan to medium-high heat, add the oil and heat until it is shimmering. Add the chicken pieces to the pan and stir quickly with a spatula. Add the stir-fry sauce. Continue stirring the chicken until it is nearly done (until most of the pink flesh has turned white) and then add the basil and stir until chicken is cooked through, the basil has wilted, and the sauce has thickened. Serve over rice
Greg Nelson Cooks 