Gai Pad Kaprow

The magic ingredient in this dish, otherwise known as thai basil chicken, is one that you'll find in a lot of other Thai (and Vietnamese) dishes--fish sauce. Pungent and brown and and foreign and scary to me just a few years ago, it's now a staple in my kitchen.

I've had a number of Thai restaurants' versions of basil chicken, but never really thought to try making my own until I came across the recipe for this dish when it was featured as a cheap meal on Serious Eats. I'm glad I did--the dish is amazing. Fresh and crunchy green beans and tender ground chicken (which is, in another bonus, pretty cheap), with plenty of shallots and garlic, lime juice and fish sauce, and the second magic ingredient--thai basil.

The recipe actually calls for holy basil, but I've been using thai basil. I guess holy basil is more authentic, but thai basil is more immediate. Thai basil is fragrant from the second you buy it and has the most amazing smell, but holy basil has to be cooked for the flavors to be released, or so I read. I did make this dish with holy basil once but I think I didn't use enough, so I felt like something was missing. I do want to become more familiar with the uses of holy basil. I'll try it again soon, if I can resist buying the thai basil when I'm smelling it at the store.

The first time I made this dish, I wondered what "one bunch" of basil meant, which is what the recipe calls for. A bit vague, I thought. But that's the beauty of it--I never know how I'm really supposed to measure herbs when they're quantified in a recipe. With this recipe, you can add huge handfuls of basil and it doesn't get overwhelming, just more delicious.