THAI FOOD basil chicken fried riceShow Video Details ↓ [music] … … … … … … …Kathy Geefay: [foreign] Hi and I'm Kathy Geefay. Today we are going to make a basil chicken fried rice or [foreign]. So let's dive right in with your basil chicken fried rice. Woman: The first ingredients for fried rice is four cups of cooked rice. Kathy Geefay: OK, and that is jasmine rice right? and now why do you use jasmine rice? Woman: Thais prefer jasmine rice. Kathy Geefay: Jasmine rice is actually long grain fragrant rice and that's the Thai favorite. Woman: And next is six cloves of garlic. Kathy Geefay: OK. Woman: And two Thai chili peppers, so it depends on how spicy you want. And of course if you don't want it spicy, leave it out. I'll smash all this together in the mortar here. [noise] [noise] [laughs] When you do this, you have to be careful. Kathy Geefay: And now why are you smashing it? Can't you just chop everything up? Woman: Yes you can do that but this will bring out more flavor of the garlic and the chili peppers. Kathy Geefay: You can actually just use a big knife and make it flat and smash everything under it if you don't have a mortar at home. But if you're going to cook Thai food a lot, definitely invest in one of these to make everything taste way better. [noise] [noise] So how fine are you smashing this? Woman: It doesn't have to be real fine. Kathy Geefay: You just have to release all those flavors then break it up so you can get a huge bite of chili's or a huge bite of garlic. Woman: This is about that just right. [noise] Kathy Geefay: That looks good. Woman: And I will heat up the oil now. Medium heat for now, just to heat up the oil. Kathy Geefay: Ok, you've got a big wok there and how much oil are you going to use? Woman: A quarter of a cup of vegetable oil. Kathy Geefay: Alright we're using medium heat at first so that we don't over cook the chicken right? Woman: No, we don't want to burn the garlic. [laughs] [laughs] When we put the chicken in that where we use medium heat. Kathy Geefay: OK, good to know. Garlic when it burns, it gets a yucky bitter flavor [noise] Woman: Ok I start to see the smoke, so this is a good time to put the garlic and chili peppers in. Kathy Geefay: How long are you going to cook that? Oh you just said. Woman: Just to brown the garlic but not to burn the garlic and this is the chicken meat. It is one and a half pounds. Kathy Geefay: OK, and what are you using, breast meat? Woman: Yeah you can use whatever you like, the white meat or the dark meat. Kathy Geefay: OK. And now are you going to cook the chicken all the way through this length? Woman: Maybe half way cook. Kathy Geefay: OK. Woman: And this is oyster sauce, this is a three tablespoons of oyster sauce and I put in one teaspoon of sugar. Kathy Geefay: And that oyster sauce is a Chinese ingredient right? Woman: Yes. And two tablespoon of fish sauce. Kathy Geefay: OK fish sauce is a staple of Thai food. It's made out of anchovies, or other small fish and then they put the small fish into these large jars and they mix it with salt water and then they leave the jars in the sun for several months. The fish actually dissolves in the water and then it gets all nice and very very salty. At this point they add more liquid that thin it out right? Woman: Uh huh. Kathy Geefay: And that's why fish sauce is a staple of Thai food and it's got a nice meaty flavor that salt doesn't tend to have. So twenty five years ago when my mom first came to America from Thailand, she packed up all her bags ready to go and she filled her suitcases with fish sauce and then she got off the plane and my dad had seen the suitcases full of fish sauce and he just started laughing. Woman: Don't laugh at me cause I was so afraid that I couldn't find any here. Kathy Geefay: Thai people couldn't live without fish sauce. Woman: OK, I'm going to turn the heat higher. Kathy Geefay: OK, now we are really cooking. Woman: Now put in the rice. Kathy Geefay: OK, and again how much rice is that? Woman: Four cups. [noise] … Kathy Geefay: And this is a great meal especially if you've got some left over rice sitting around because nothing makes a better fried rice than day old rice because it's a little drier so the rice holds its own very well. Woman: Yeah when you stir fry on high heat you have to work quick. Kathy Geefay: That's right or else it will burn. Woman: So we cook this until the chicken is cooked. Kathy Geefay: OK, and typically how long does it take? Woman: Three to five minutes. Kathy Geefay: Three to five minutes, OK. Depending on how hot your stove is. We've got a really hot pan so ours will be quicker than most. Woman: OK, when the chicken is cooked. Kathy Geefay: Uh huh. Woman: I put in this is from one red bell pepper. Kathy Geefay: OK, a whole red bell pepper. Woman: Red bell pepper if you like it crunchy. OK, and I will put in about two cups of fresh basil, basil leaves. Kathy Geefay: OK I'll go ahead and throw that in for you. It smells so great. The basil is the key ingredient in this recipe. Woman: OK and let's turn off the heat because you don't want to overcook the basil. [noise] Kathy Geefay: Right. That is beautiful. [laughter] [noise] Woman: OK, let's put this in the bowl. Kathy Geefay: Here, you've got a nice bowl. [noise] … I honestly think if I had to pick one thing that I had to live off of for the rest of my life, it would be this chicken basil fried rice. I love it. Woman: Ok. Kathy Geefay: Looks good. Woman: And this is how we serve the spicy chicken fried rice with basil. Thai people always eat fried rice with fresh cucumber. Kathy Geefay: It cuts down the spiciness, it gives it a nice crunch and the cool flavors with the spicy flavors taste so good. And of course, cilantro. Woman: Right, let us put it on top. Kathy Geefay: As a garnish, this is something that I do personally love. Woman: And we always put fresh lime on the side so you can squeeze it on top of the fried rice if you like. Kathy Geefay: Oh, Thais love all kinds of flavors all mixed in one dish. It looks great, I can't wait to eat it. [music] Want to learn how to cook the Thai dishes that you've seen on today's show? Email us at dim@thaifoodtonight.com and tell us the recipe that you'd like. We'll also be happy to try and answer any of your Thai cooking questions. Man: This program is brought to you in part by Thai kitchen. Offering a full line of Thai ingredients and products to help you bring that Thai experience home anytime. [music] … [silence] … |