Prik Nam Pla Thai Basil Chicken Stir Fry

• servings: 2-3

Ingredients

1 - 1 ¼ lbs chicken breast, cubed and salted

Handful of green vegetable of choice, chopped into chunks (asparagus, snow peas, etc)

1 in knob of ginger, diced

1 green onion, thinly sliced

6 thai chiles (or 2 serranos), thinly sliced

10-20 thai basil leaves (regular basil can be substituted), ripped or roughly chopped

Sprinkle of MSG

50 g fish sauce

20 g lime juice

High heat cooking oil (canola, vegetable, peanut, etc)

Directions

Assemble the Prik Nam Pla sauce by combining the fish sauce, lime juice, and then 3 thai chiles (or 1 serrano) in a separate dish. Optionally, you can grate or mince a clove of garlic and add that in. You can also add a little sugar, whatever your preference is.

In a wide pan over medium heat, saute the ginger, green onion, and the rest of your chiles in oil for about a minute or until fragrant.

Toss in the vegetables along with a pinch of salt. Continue sauteing for 2-3 minutes, or until the vegetables have softened and charred slightly. Remove the vegetables and set them on a plate.

Turn the heat up to high and add some more oil to the pan. Toss in the chicken and sear on all sides until cooked through.

Return the vegetables to the pan with the chicken along with the thai basil. Add in some of your Prik Nam Pla sauce and stir fry everything together for another minute and then turn off the heat. Season with a small pinch of msg and any more sauce to taste. Serve hot and over rice or rice noodles.

Notes

Prik nam pla is a very simple and widespread dipping sauce in Thai cooking. Consisting of only fish sauce, lime juice, and chiles, this sauce embraces the key Thai cooking concept of balancing salty, sour, sweet, and spicy. This sauce is used in a chicken and veggie stir fry here, but use this sauce on whatever comes to mind.