Stir-fry Basil Chicken

Basil thrives in our climate. When it grows, it grows. This is one thing that makes me really happy, when I get to use herbs from my garden to cook. They are so fragrant and fresh and it feels really good to know it came from my own garden patch. Here’s a wonderful recipe for chicken.

Ingredients

1/2  free range chicken (cut into small pieces)
300 gm fresh basil shoots
3 cloves chopped garlic
2 red bird eye chili (halved, seeded)
1 dried chili (soaked, seeded and cut into 1″ length)
dark soy sauce
light soy sauce
sesame oil
1/2 tsp sugar
dash of pepper
sea salt
olive oil

Method

1. Wash chicken parts and pat dry. I prefer small free range chicken for this dish mainly because it has less fats and the meat is sweeter and more succulent. Make sure the pieces are small to enable it to cook through easily and not burn on the outside and still red in the insides. This dish has to be dry and not full of gravy.
2. Heat up the wok. Drizzle in the olive oil. Toss in the fresh and dried chili, chopped garlic, followed by chicken pieces. Stir fry them around until the chicken is well seared, then add a drizzle of light and dark soy sauce, a little sesame oil and stir some more till all the chicken is evenly coated and colored. Do not add water but you may lower down the heat.
3. When the chicken is almost cooked through, throw in all the basil shoots and leaves. Add sugar, pepper and sea salt to taste. Do not over-cook basil leaves, turn off the heat immediately and serve.