Thai Chicken Stir Fry

Thai Chicken Stir Fry

Ingredients:

• Chicken breasts, 500 gm
• Purple onion, chopped ¼ cup
• Garlic, minced 5 – 6 cloves
• Ginger, thinly sliced 1 inch piece
• Fresh red chili, sliced 5
• Mushrooms, sliced 5 – 6
• Red pepper, de-seeded/sliced 1
• Fresh basil a handful
• Coconut oil/vegetable oil 2 tbsp

Ingredients for Stir Fry Sauce

• Coconut milk 2/3 cup
• Red Thai curry paste 2 ½ tbsp
• Fresh lime juice 3 ½ tbsp
• Soya sauce 1 ½ tbsp
• Crushed red chili 1 tsp
• Brown sugar 1 tsp
• Salt 1 tsp

Preparation:

• Cut into strips or bite-size pieces, OR 5-6 chicken thighs.Combine all 'stir fry sauce' ingredients together in a cup or bowl, stirring well to dissolve the sugar. Taste-test it, keeping in mind that the first taste should be spicy-salty, followed by sweetness and the rich flavor of the coconut milk. Adjust these flavors to suit your taste, adding more lime juice if too salty or sweet (note that it will be less salty when combined with the chicken and vegetables). Place chicken in a bowl and pour over 1/4 cup of the stir-fry sauce, or enough to coat chicken. Toss well and set aside. Warm a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add oil and swirl around, then add the shallot/onion, garlic, ginger, and chili. Stir-fry until fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Then add chicken together with the marinade. Stir-fry for 5-6 minutes, until the chicken is cooked. Add more of the stir-fry sauce as you cook, keeping it moist rather than dry. 
• Add the mushrooms, red pepper, and enough stir-fry sauce to just cover ingredients. Simmer 3-5 minutes, or until the vegetables have turned bright in color but still retain some crispness. (Note: this is a rather 'saucy' stir-fry that is never dry - the sauce is meant to also flavor the rice or noodles it is served with). Reduce heat to minimum and do a final taste-test, adding a little more lime juice if too salty or sweet. Add more chili for more spice. Top with a sprinkling of fresh basil and serve with plenty of jasmine rice.