Skip to main content

Chicken Holy Basil

Recipe information

  • Yield

    serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

10 garlic cloves, minced
6 fresh Thai chiles, thinly sliced crosswise
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Asian fish sauce
2 teaspoons soy sauce
4 1/2 teaspoons sugar
Freshly ground pepper
3 cups loosely packed fresh holy basil leaves, plus more for garnish
Sticky or steamed jasmine rice, for serving

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Mash together the garlic and chiles using a mortar and pestle or the flat side of a large knife. Heat the oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic mixture. Cook, stirring, until the garlic is just golden, about 20 seconds.

    Step 2

    Add the chicken; cook, stirring often, until the chicken is cooked through, about 4 minutes. Stir in the fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar, and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper. Add the basil; cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Season with more pepper, if desired. Serve over rice. Garnish with basil.

The cookbook cover with a blue background and fine typeface.
Reprinted with permission from The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook: The New Classics by Martha Stewart Living Magazine, copyright © 2007. Published by Clarkson Potter, a division of The Crown Publishing Group. Buy the full book from Amazon.
Read More
Like banana pudding cake and beer can chicken.
Turn humble onions into this thrifty yet luxe pasta dinner.
No grill needed for this just-charred-enough sweet and spicy chicken.
Filberts, goobers, scaly bark nuts: Explore the world beyond almonds in this guide.
Assembled right in the skillet, no bowls needed.
Like swordfish steaks with tomatoes and Peruvian-style tofu.
Loosely inspired by pasta Amatriciana, a few pounds of zucchini stand in for tomatoes.
Stir-frying slices makes this dinner doable on any given night.