Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Thai Minced Beef Stirfry with Basil


One of my favourite dishes when I was posted to Thailand almost 20 years ago. Colleagues and I would look out for stalls selling this dish. Also a very common dish over there. I find myself cooking this whenever really fresh Thai Basil pops up at the local market.

My rendition of this dish includes dark soy sauce and sesame oil, as I feel it adds some punch to the dish. The traditional recipe probably would not have used soy and sesame oil. 

Also to note, purists would not use anything other than fish sauce for salinity.  

Ingredients
500g minced or thinly sliced beef. (Can be substituted with chicken or pork)
1 small yellow onion - sliced
8 garlic cloves - roughly chopped or minced
Handful of Thai basil- leaves only (use continental basil if you cannot find Thai ones.)
2 Kaffir Lime leaves
4-8 bird's eye chillies (Or however much you want.) - sliced
4 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
Drizzle of sesame oil.
Pepper
1 egg per person - cooked sunny side up

Method
1. Season the meat in a large bowl with 2 tablespoons of fish sauce and pepper. Mix well. 

2. In a small bowl, mix the rest of the fish sauce, sugar, soy sauce and a drizzle of sesame oil. Mix well.

3.  In a large wok or frying pan, heat about 2-3 tablespoons of cooking oil over medium high heat. When oil is heated (Its starts to shimmer and moves around the pan more easily) throw in the onions and garlic. Fry for about 2-3 minutes, sweating the onions and garlic a little.

4. Add the meat next. While frying, use the spatula to break up the meat a much as you can. Fry for about 5-8 minutes, until the meat is about halfway cooked through.

5. Add in the chillies, lime leaves and the sauce mix. Mix well. Continue to fry until meat is cooked through. About another 7-10 mins or so. Turn off the heat and add in the basil leaves, mix well until wilted. 

6. Serve with steamed rice and a fried egg. 

Enjoy!


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