Mes amis,

To celebrate basil day, 14 Thermidor, we are making a delightful dish from Leela Punyaratabandhu‘s Simple Thai Food. This recipe calls for one of the three varieties of basil used in Thai food, holy basil. The book had an eye-opening section on the varieties of basil – holy, lemon and Thai sweet – and an admonition to not use one in the place of another. Gentle reader, I could not find holy basil in any of my various grocery stores. Based on my limited internet searching, it seems difficult to find in the area.

8 cloves garlic

5 fresh red chiles (she suggests bird’s eye, but I used ones from the garden)

1 large shallot

3/4 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1 1/2 lbs ground chicken

2 tbs fish sauce

2 tbs thin soy sauce (a special Thai variety of soy sauce)

1 tbs dark sweet soy sauce

1 tbs oyster sauce

1 cup packed fresh holy basil leaves

4 cups cooked jasmine rice

First, grind the garlic, chilies and shallot into a thick paste. Heat the oil in a large skillet and fry the eggs, sunny side up. Remove the eggs and reserve for serving. When the oil is slightly cooler, remove all but two tablespoons and add the ground chicken. Cook until slightly browned and cooked through – for me, this took 5-7 minutes. Add the fish sauce, soy sauces, oyster sauce nad cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat, add the basil and stir until incorporated. To serve, plate with rice, chicken, then the fried egg. Enjoy!