Chinese cooking is all about mise en place. For many dishes, once you have all the prep ready, the cooking part only takes a few minutes. Seriously! This is a perfect example, as the stir-frying part literally takes 3 minutes, assuming you don’t have a weak stove.
The day before I made this dish, Lon told me he didn’t like Chinese/Thai Basil. Well, I already bought the ingredients so I decided to make it anyway. It turns out, he really liked this dish, and said it was better than any Basil Chicken he’s had at restaurants.
Basil Chicken
~2 servings
- 1 1/2 cups diced chicken thighs
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- 1 cup packed snow peas
- 1 jalapeno, seeded and thinly sliced
- 1 rounded tablespoon black bean garlic sauce
- 1 cloves garlic, minced
- scant 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 cup chicken broth
- 3/4 cup Chinese basil leaves
- rice to serve
Instructions –
1. In a small bowl, stir together chicken and cornstarch. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a wok on high flame. Stir in chicken tossing rapidly for 1 minute, or until chicken changes color. Stir in snow peas, jalapeno, black bean garlic sauce, garlic, and sugar. Stir rapidly for 30 seconds. Add chicken broth and stir another 30 seconds. The liquid should quickly thicken into a sauce.
3. Add basil and stir just until basil leaves wilt. Remove and serve with rice.
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yum! i love basil!
YUM! I love all the flavors in there! I agree, Chinese cooking is really easy and quick once you get the ingredients prep ready.
This is a very nice recipe. I must try it. I love quick fix cooking. We have started using basil recently and I love the fresh, sharp taste that it brings to a dish.
I used to think that basil is an Italian herb. But my local vegetable lady calls it a ‘Chinese masala’ in Hindi! Is basil used a lot in Chinese cooking?
This sounds delicious! I do like Chinese basil, so this is perfect for me.
Kalyan, there are many types of basil. Italian basil, which is very prominent in Italian food, is different from Chinese/Thai basil. I don’t see a ton of basil in Chinese cooking. There is more in Thai food though.
we had a Thai dish which was chicken stir fried in basil from a local restaurant. That was quite nice
MMMM…what an excellent & healthy meal this is!
I love basil: the dish looks so tasty!
hey great blog! I was actually searching through NY blogs to find places to eat when I holiday there but stumbled upon this. Funnily enough I bought some basil the other day for pasta and thought I’d use the left over for Basil Chicken – and voila! Here is your recipe! Thanks! 🙂
Hi Catty, thanks for stopping in! We review tons of places around NY so browse around and if you need any help, let us know. As for the basil, if you got Italian basil for you pasta, it’s quite different from Chinese and Thai Basil, which I used for this Basil Chicken. You can certainly try with the Italian basil but there will be a significant difference.
Hi, where do you get the black bean garlic sauce? This looks great!
Christina, I get the black bean garlic sauce at any Chinese supermarket. The one I went to today was Great Wall Supermarket at 137-45 Northern Boulevard in Flushing.