Spice up your life: Chili Basil Chicken
This simple stir fry is wonderful in that it is pretty flexible. Don’t want to use chicken? Use beef or roasted sweet potato or pre fried tofu. Don’t want it too spicy? Just reduce the chili. Do you hate bell peppers? Use broccoli instead! Don’t have all the ingredients? Substitutions abound! I like to eat this with steamed rice or just by itself if I want to be all carb free and cool like that. The main thing here is to have the prep work/mise en place done before you start cooking, because once you put fire to the wok it goes very quickly. Enjoy!
Ingredients
250 grams/ 8 oz boneless chicken cut into thumb sized pieces (or beef or already roasted sweet potato or pre fried tofu)
Two Tablespoons Tippy tempura flour (or use 1+ 1/2 Tablespoons flour + 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt +1/4 teaspoon white flour +1/4 teaspoon black pepper)
200 grams/ 2 cups bell pepper chopped (I like red and yellow, but green also works)
100ml/ 1/2 cup of water
One Tablespoon chopped ginger
One garlic clove, stem removed and chopped
Two Tablespoons of vegetable oil
One large scallion/spring onion chopped
One handful of fresh basil (dried doesn’t really work in this recipe)
One small pinch of red pepper flakes(you can always add more later…)
One Tablespoon Sesame Oil
One Tablespoon Mirin
One Tablespoon Rice Wine Vinegar
Two Tablespoons Double Thick Soy Sauce
One Tablespoon Sweet soy sauce (or you can use oyster sauce if you prefer a more savory dish)
Instructions
Set up: you will need a large skillet or wok, several bowls and keep one big bowl on the side, because things will cook in different stages.
In one bowl, mix the chopped chicken and flour. In another bowl, mix the spring onion, red pepper flakes, sesame oil, mirin, rice wine vinegar, double thick soy sauce, and sweet soy sauce and set aside. Taste the sauce now - if the spice is not enough add more. If you put too much spice, add a little more sweet soy to balance out.
Start with the vegetable oil in the wok and bring to medium high heat. Add the chopped garlic and ginger and toss in the oil. Once it starts to brown remove the pieces with a slotted spoon and put in the big bowl. Next, add the chicken and let it brown on both sides, around 4-6 minutes. Once cooked(it will all cook again!) remove and add to the big bowl. Add the bell peppers, basil and water to the wok and cover for 2 minutes.
Once the water starts to reduce, scrape the sides and you will start to see a thickened sauce start to form. Add back in the chicken + fried ginger and garlic. Add in the sauce mix and stir through for about 2-3 minutes letting everything get coated. Done.