This is a quick weeknight dinner. You do a little bit of prep work and have the right ingredients then BAM! You’ve got a nice little dinner of which you can be proud.
The first step here I guess is to acquire the right ingredients. If you want to ensure maximum flavor you will get pieces of meat then put them into your food processor to grind them. I’ve done that but now I’m older, wiser, and lazier. I have a good butcher so for this I got good ground pork. You can sub in turkey or chicken or whatever else you want that won’t taste as good as this. If you do chicken or turkey, go with dark meat then grind it yourself so it’s not just pure punishment of your taste buds.
“You can also use Serrano chilis but for most folks, fresh Jalapenos are the best bet. I seeded and de-veined mine because I didn’t want to blow the mouth of my dinner companion.”
This recipe also involves chilis. I used jalapeños but the America’s Test Kitchen recipe calls for two Thai chilis, seeds and all. I highly recommend you go for that if you and the person for whom you are cooking can handle the heat. You can also use Serrano chilis but for most folks, fresh Jalapenos are the best bet. I seeded and de-veined mine because I didn’t want to blow the mouth of my dinner companion.
Also, I used Italian basil because I’m lazy and didn’t want to walk four blocks to the Thai market to get real Thai basil. If you have access to real, hearty, Thai basil then use it, it will improve the Thai-ness of this recipe.
- Here are the ingredients:
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves
- 2 chilis
- 3 garlic cloves, pealed
- 2.5 tsps. fish sauce
- 1.5 tsps. oyster sauce
- 1.5 tsps. sugar
- 0.5 tsps. white vinegar
- 0.5 lbs. meat (it needs to end up ground)
- 1 shallot
- Vegetable oil
So listen, you’re going to start by putting half of the basil, all the chilis, and the garlic in a food processor and turning it on to chop it up into what looks like a a leafy salsa. Take 1.5 tsps. into a separate small bowl then mix in 1.5 tsps. of the fish sauce, plus all of the oyster sauce, sugar, and vinegar into the bowl and set it aside. This will go into the dish at the end and bump up the flavor. Put the rest of the basil mixture into a dry, unheated 10-inch non-stick skillet.
If you have ground meat already, then just put it into a bowl and throw the rest of the fish sauce on it and put it in the fridge for like 15 minutes. If you have whole chunks of meat then put it in the same food processor and run it until it looks ground, then put the fish sauce on it in a separate bowl and throw it in the fridge…but you should already know that because you’re smart. That’s why I like you. You should also get any rice you want started right now.
Here’s how it all starts: Slice the shallots and throw them on top of the mixture you have in the skillet. Put about 1 tbsp. vegetable oil on there and turn the heat up to medium low. It will start making some noise and smells soon. THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT! Cook the whole mixture – stirring intermittently – until the shallots turn golden brown and you’re starting to feel like you’re going places in life.
Once the shallots are golden brown (about 5-8 minutes), throw the chicken/fish sauce mix in there and cook it. Make sure this meat gets cooked all the way through. It should only take about 3-5 minutes as you keep stirring. I know about now you’re thinking: “That doggpound asshole told me this was going to be easy” and what I have to say about this is: I said it was going to be quick! DON’T PUT WORDS INTO MY MOUTH!
Once the meat looks like it’s been cooked to where you won’t be perched on the toilet tomorrow morning, thrown in the reserved basil mix and cook it for about 30 seconds. It should start smelling really great. You then can turn off the heat, put any remaining basil leaves in the mix, stir it up, and throw it on some rice! DONE!
