15-Minute Thai Basil Chicken with Crispy Fried Egg

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Thailand's most-ordered lunch, built for a home skillet: ground chicken seared hard with a mortar-crushed paste of garlic and fresh chili, glossed in a three-soy-and-oyster sauce, then finished off the heat with a huge handful of basil so it stays perfumed instead of stewed. Serve it over jasmine rice with a fried egg whose edges shatter like a chip. Start to finish in about 25 minutes, and the wok work itself takes five.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce (or sweet soy sauce)
• 2 tsp granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp water or low-sodium chicken broth

• 8 cloves garlic, peeled
• 3 Thai bird's eye chilies, stems removed (or 1 serrano, sliced)
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt

• 3 tbsp neutral oil, such as canola or peanut
• 1 lb ground chicken (dark meat preferred)
• 1/2 small onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips (optional)
• 3 cups loosely packed Thai holy basil or Thai sweet basil leaves

• 1/4 cup neutral oil
• 4 large eggs
• Flaky salt, for finishing

• 4 cups hot cooked jasmine rice
• 1 lime, cut into wedges
• Sliced cucumber, for the side
• 2 tbsp fish sauce mixed with 1 sliced Thai chili, for the table (prik nam pla)

Instructions

1. Get the rice going first if you haven't already, and set out serving plates — this dish moves fast and must be eaten immediately. Whisk the oyster sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar and water in a small bowl until the sugar dissolves. Set it right next to the stove.
2. Pound the garlic, chilies and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a mortar to a rough, chunky paste, about 45 seconds — you want visible flecks, not a purée. No mortar? Mince the garlic and chilies together on a board, then smear them against the surface with the flat of your knife. Pick the basil leaves off the stems and measure out a heaping 3 cups.
3. Fry the eggs first so the stir-fry lands last. Heat the 1/4 cup oil in an 8- or 10-inch skillet over medium-high until it shimmers and a drop of water snaps, about 2 minutes. Crack in 2 eggs (they will bubble aggressively), tilt the pan and spoon hot oil over the whites for 60 to 90 seconds, until the edges are brown, lacy and curled and the yolk is still liquid. Transfer to a plate, sprinkle with flaky salt, and repeat with the remaining 2 eggs. Pour off the oil.
4. Wipe the skillet, add the 3 tablespoons fresh oil, and set over medium heat. Add the garlic-chili paste and fry for 30 to 45 seconds, stirring constantly, just until fragrant and barely golden — do not let it brown or it will turn bitter. Turn the exhaust fan on; the chili in the air is real.
5. Raise the heat to high and add the ground chicken. Press it into a flat layer and let it sit undisturbed for 2 minutes to build a browned crust, then break it into coarse, bite-size clumps with a wooden spatula and cook 2 to 3 minutes more, until no pink remains. Resist over-crumbling — big pieces give the dish texture.
6. Add the onion and bell pepper and stir-fry for 1 minute, so they soften at the edges but stay crisp. Pour the sauce around the perimeter of the pan and toss for 60 to 90 seconds, until it reduces to a glossy coating that clings to the meat with just a little liquid pooling — about 2 tablespoons' worth.
7. Kill the heat. Dump in all the basil at once and fold it through for 15 to 20 seconds; the residual heat should wilt it while keeping the leaves bright green and aromatic. Taste and adjust: a splash more fish sauce for salt, a pinch of sugar to round it out.
8. Mound jasmine rice on each plate, spoon the chicken alongside, and lean a crispy fried egg over the top. Serve with lime wedges, cucumber slices and the chili fish sauce, breaking the yolk into the rice as you eat.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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