Not Your College Stir Fry – Thai-Style Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry with Thai Basil

In my junior and senior years in college, I was a member of a couple of different cooking groups. About four or five different people, each cooking one night a week. It provided a meal much healthier than the college cafeteria, saved time and money, and I made good friends. I only had to cook dinner one night during each week; I was taken care of every other night. Everyone fended for themselves over the weekend.

Of course many of us were inexperienced cooks, preparing meals for ourselves and others for the first time, resulting in food varying in quality. Sometimes it was excellent, sometimes not so much. Sometimes you had a full meal, vegetables and all, while other times let’s just say you got a pizza later that night. A bowl of canned beans with some spices and hot sauce, by itself, with no toppings, does not chili or a meal make. As a result, the groups varied over the years. Some friends were permanent members, while others drifted in and out. Some were more devoted, cooking more elaborate dishes, while others couldn’t quite get their act together. It was a learning experience for all of us; learning to try new foods; learning to cook for others; learning about relationships; learning what we did and did not like.

A stir fry was one of the meals that was in constant rotation. A pile of vegetables, maybe a small amount of chicken or meat or tofu, all over a mound of rice. Quick, easy, healthy. Perfect for college cooking. Except I’ve never really liked most of the stir frys I made, let alone what others cooked. I find them often bland and tasteless. The idea is great, but more often than not they’re boring and the vegetables are overcooked.

After my college years, I continued to make many a stir fry, but never to my satisfaction. Most of the time I would wing it, and I was almost always disappointed. The only time I’ve really liked a stir fry is when I follow a legitimate Chinese recipe making a specific stir fried dish, which is usually more modest at its base (limiting itself to one vegetable), but more ambitious in the sauces and other ingredients. After much contemplation, I came to the conclusion that focusing on one vegetable may be the key to a good stir fry. You cook that one main ingredient to perfection and serve it as one dish among several, rather than trying to balance four, five, or more different vegetables at the same time. So the term should be used as a verb, rather than a noun; you stir fry a vegetable, rather than make a stir fry. Of course this defeats the purpose of the college stir fry; it is no longer an easy, one pot meal using up all the vegetables that remain in the refrigerator crisper.

The other day my wife wanted a medley of a half dozen simple sautéed vegetables for dinner, basically a stir fry minus the Asian flair. That would not have made me happy. So I decided to prep the vegetables and cook them up in two separate batches, hers plain and simple, mine adding Thai basil, lemongrass, and a variety of sauces just waiting in the refrigerator. The result was surprising. It was the first multi-vegetable stir fry I’ve ever made that I really liked. The vegetables were perfectly cooked, with a nice sauce to be soaked up by rice, and the Thai basil adding slightly sweet, licorice tones. It was inauthentic, no doubt, but delicious none the less. Far better than the stir frys my friends and I cooked in college.

Thai-Style Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry with Thai Basil

As with any stir fry, the choice of vegetables will vary depending on what’s in season, what’s available at the supermarket, and what you like. That’s no problem, only make sure to cook them in order starting with the one that takes longest, so they are all done at the same time. (Hint: They’re listed in order in the ingredients list.) Carrots, for example will take much longer to cook than pea pods, which need nothing more than a quick sear. Use my list of vegetables as a guide, or change it to your liking.

The protein can also vary depending on your tastes, or it need not be part of the dish at all. This recipe is for chicken, but it could easily be replaced by pork, beef, or tofu. I find that stir fried chicken breast gets tough and chewy when cooked directly in the wok or pan. So I use a Chinese cooking technique called velveting (adapted from The Key to Chinese Cooking, by Irene Kuo), which makes the meat extremely tender and “velvety.” It then gets thrown into the stir fry close to the end, mostly to be warmed up. While I would never have done this in college, it is worth the extra step.

Serves 4, about 45 minutes

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast

½ tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. Chinese Shaoxing cooking wine, divided

1 large egg white, lightly beaten

2 Tbsp. cornstarch, divided

4 Tbsp. vegetable oil, divided

1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, finely minced or grated

1 Tbsp. jalapeño or other hot pepper, finely minced

2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced

1 stalk lemongrass, soft inner core finely minced, the rest discarded

3 large shallots, cut into wedges

1 – 2 carrots

6 oz. green beans, trimmed

½ small head broccoli

4 oz. shitake, king trumpet, or other mushrooms

½ red pepper, seeded, internal membrane removed

6 oz. snow or sugar snap peas, trimmed

1 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

2 tsp. fish sauce

1 Tbsp. sambal oelek

1 Tbsp. oyster sauce

¼ cup chicken stock

½ cup Thai basil leaves

1. Velvet the chicken. Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces and place in a bowl. (It sometimes helps to freeze the meat for a half hour to firm it up before slicing it.) Stir in salt, cooking wine, and egg white. Sprinkle one tablespoon of the cornstarch and mix well. Mix in one tablespoon of the oil, and allow the chicken to sit in the refrigerator for at least a half hour. (Prep the vegetables while the chicken is sitting.) Bring one quart of water with one tablespoon of oil to a boil in a 3-quart pot. Lower the heat to medium and scatter in the chicken, stirring to separate the pieces. After a minute or so, when the coating turns white and the chicken is almost cooked through, remove it with a spider or slotted spoon to a small bowl and reserve. Discard the cooking liquid.
2. Mince the ginger, jalapeño, garlic, and lemongrass and set aside.
3. Prepare the vegetables by cutting them into bite-size pieces and set aside.
4. Mix the remaining one tablespoon cooking wine, brown sugar, soy sauce, fish sauce, sambel oelek, oyster sauce, and chicken stock in a small bowl and set aside.
5. In a small saucer, mix the remaining one tablespoon of cornstarch with two tablespoons of water and set aside.
6. Heat the remaining two tablespoons of oil in a wok or large pot on high. Add the ginger, jalapeño, garlic, and lemongrass, stir, and cook for about a minute until the edges of the garlic are just starting to turn brown.
7. Add the shallots and allow them to sear briefly.
8. Add the carrots, green beans, broccoli, mushrooms, and red pepper, one at a time, starting with the one that will take longest to cook. (They’re in order here.) Cook each for a minute or so before adding the next. Stir frequently to coat the vegetables with oil and so they don’t burn.
9. Add in the reserved chicken and mix it in.
10. When the vegetables are close to being cooked, but still firm to the bite, stir in the reserved sauce and mix to coat the vegetables. Cook for a minute or two more, or until the vegetables are almost done.
11. Add the pea pods. If the sauce is too thin, stir the cornstarch-water mixture and add one tablespoon. This will thicken the sauce as it is stirred in and heated. If it needs to be further thickened, add more of the cornstarch-water mixture, a teaspoon at a time.
12. Remove from the heat, add the Thai basil, and serve over steamed white or jasmine rice.

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