Thai Basil Fried Rice

The summer garden is just coming to the peak. Everything is so vibrant and happy in my garden. We have harvested a few cucumbers and a few tomatoes.



I have used mint in many of my dishes at the restaurant and at home



The best crop this year for me has to be Thai basil. I have never had such beautiful Thai basil in my garden before. It's so healthy and beautiful I just want to dance around it. We have about eight basil plants in our garden. I picked some to make my favorite fried rice. Back home, we use holy basil for this dish or Bai Ka Prow but I didn't plant any of those this year. I have been using this kind, Bai Ho Ra Pa, to substitute for a long time. Next year, I'm thinking I will put some holy basil in our garden. Holy basil is a little spicier and more pungent. They intensify the heat of the chilies.

I like my food spicy and this fried rice always does the trick. If you don't have Thai chilies, you can substitute Serrano peppers for them. Jalapenos might also do the trick but you might need more of those since they are less spicy.

A very well done fried eggs compliment this dish perfectly. This is the way I like my eggs. Of course, if you prefer your eggs sunny side up or a little less done, go for it. There will be a lot coming out of our garden this year and I am so excited. We also have green beans, snow peas, lemongrass, summer squashes, corn, peppers and a big bed of sunflowers coming out of the garden. This is the best year since we have our garden and I am so inspired to start planting winter garden for the first time this year. Bruce already made the markings for our garden expansion. We are turning every single square inch of our sunny spot in the backyard into vegetable garden. There will be more recipes coming out of this garden. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this recipe.



Basil Fried Rice

2 qts cooked rice (white or brown, I tried brown rice this time and it was so delicious)
¼ cup vegetable oil
5 oz shrimp, chicken, beef, pork or any other kind of seafood (or soy bean protein, mushrooms, fried tofu)
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon palm sugar or white sugar
2 handfuls Thai Basil

paste mix
3 Thai Chilies
1 red shallots
3 cloves garlic

Mix all the ingredients of the paste with pestle and mortar or in food processor or mince it well and mix all of the ingredients together

Heat oil in a wok or a big pot over medium heat. Put the paste in and stir for a 30 seconds or until fragrant. Mix in your choice of meat or seafood and a dash of soy or fish sauce to season the meat(the best way is to marinade your meat with soy sauce for 15 minutes, it makes a huge different.) Add rice and season with fish sauce, soy sauce and palm sugar. Add dark soy sauce to brown the rice. Add basil at the very end and stir for another 30 second. Serve with fried eggs on top, that's how I like it.

whole fish dinner

I got this beautiful whole fish from San Miguel Seafood at downtown Farmers' Market today. It was given to me to try. Roberto never failed me. He always brings in the best of the coast to the market and local restaurants. I was so excited to see it and so was my son. He asked if he could eat the eyes.

I had no idea what to make but I knew I was definitely cooking it the same day it arrived. I brought it home and I didn't go to the grocery store. If you know me, I haven't cooked at home for so long. Cooking for a living makes cooking for yourself at home seems exhausting. I usually cook dinner at the restaurant and then bring them home. So, what I have to cook that fish with was up in the air when I left the restaurant at 2 pm.

I didn't need a recipe. The fish this fresh will be good with just salt and pepper. But I had to challenge my culinary expertise. I got some rosemary from the front yard, some mint from the backyard. I threw in some leftover garlic and onions that my dad left in the fridge before he left a couple of weeks ago. Saw a lime in there so I sliced it and threw that in too. No olive oil in sight, I used vegetable oil to rub it with salt and pepper. Pepper was not even freshly ground but who had time to do that.

I rubbed the fish inside out,stuffed it with what I had and threw the rest on and under it. Wrapped with parchment paper and baked at 350 F for 45 minutes. That was my dinner, fresh from the coast. The fish is gone, in case you wonder.