Thai Chicken in Peanut+Basil Sauce: Weeknight Posh

Weeknights are tough for a foodie married to a foodie.

After a long day of phone calls, emails and etc, etc, etc, we look forward to dinner together, something fabulous.

Miss Daisy, however, doesn’t share our taste in food.

This means that each night, two meals are prepared: One for Mommy & Daddy and
another just for her. She’ll eat quinoa til the cows come home, but doesn’t even want to
try “our” food.

So, this 8-5 gig is killing me.

The day starts out great.

Fresh & chipper, I spend all morning, dreaming about the fab dishes I’m going to cook in a snap, the minute I get home. Oh, and there’s dessert, too.

There’s always dessert.

Big plans.

Fancy-frosted cake.

Sexy crème caramel.

Maybe even some ice cream?

Then, there’s that cool brownie recipe I saw on someone’s site. (I’m subscribed to 5,072 food blogs.)

The clock screams 5! I elbow my way through traffic and finally get home.

While I scurry to find my key,

I ring the door bell and hear Daisy’s footsteps getting louder. Milou races to the door and jumps up to say hello, while Shawn makes his way down the stairs to greet me with a kiss.

No sooner do I kick off my shoes than do they disappear.

It seems Miss Daisy got my Shoe Gene.

My sneakers are safe around her, but the prettier the heels, the more likely they are to walk away.

She’s quite dainty, too.

We love to just sit on the stairs, catch up on the day and watch our li’l blue-eyed beauty clicker-clackering across the hardwood floors.

Then, there’s a familiar grumbling sound in the air. Our stomachs!

It’s dinnertime and Thai gets the vote.

My friend Joana had been telling me about a quick chicken dish that sounded a lot like laab.

A fragrant Thai chicken dish (wrongly) known as larb had been doing cartwheels in my head all day.

I could already taste it.

Laab is a very interesting mix of ground meat and ground rice, dressed in minty lime.

Officially, the books call for “toasted rice powder.”

Say, whaaaat?

Right.

Well, our pantry is bursting with sauces, pastes, cans, packets, boxes, bottles, jars.
You name it, we have it.

Toasted rice powder, we have not.

I’ll bet you don’t either.

Why not DIY it? You have the technology.

Get that rice all roasty, toasty. Then, grind it.

The eggplant and banana pepper break tradition, a great idea here. If you’re watching your carb intake, it’s easy to go paleo. Ditch the rice altogether and wrap it in lettuce.

As delicious as it is beautiful, this quick li’l number makes you feel posh like royalty,

even on a school night.

Thai Chicken in Peanut+Basil Sauce
Marinating the meat and toasting/grinding the rice the night before gets dinner to the table even faster.

Serves 6

What to Get

2 lbs ground chicken

3 Tb peanut butter
2 Tb curry powder
1 tsp sriracha pepper paste + more for serving (optional)
2 Tb soy sauce
1 lime
1 tsp brown sugar

3 Tb oil
1 medium onion
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp ginger
3 Japanese eggplant
2 banana peppers

4 Tb fresh Thai basil
1 Tb fresh mint

3 cups rice (Basmati long grain)
5 cups water

What To Do

Toast 1 cup of rice in a dry, clean pan for about 10 minutes on medium heat.
Be careful not to burn the rice.

Turn off the heat and allow the rice to cool.
For a more crunchy consistency, grind the rice in a food processor.
For a finer consistency, use a coffee grinder (one that’s reserved for spices, not coffee beans)to grind the rice.

In a large bowl, combine the peanut butter, curry powder and, for some heat, the sriracha.

Continue mixing while carefully streaming the soy sauce and lime juice.

Add chicken and smoosh together to marinade the meat well.
This can be done a night ahead.

Chop a medium onion and sautée in a bit of oil until translucent, golden in colour and fragrant, about 10 minutes.

While the onions are browning, steam the rest of the rice.

I prefer fluffy long-grain Basmati, but any kind you like will do.

Rinse rice several times in a pot until the water is no longer cloudy.

Add 3 cups water, a pinch of salt, cover with the pot lid and cook

on medium heat until the water has been absorbed and the rice

is steaming.

Mince the garlic and ginger,

then add to the browned onions.

Add the chicken and break up with a wooden fork, making sure

to incorporate well in the pan.

It won’t take long for the chicken to cook.

Add the ground, toasted rice and gently mix to incorporate.

Wash and slice the Japanese eggplants on the bias (looks pretty).

De-seed and chop the banana peppers.

Add both to the pan and gently heat.

Shortly before serving, chop and add the fresh mint.

Pile about 10-15 basil leaves on top of each other and roll as if making a cigarette (like in the old movies).

Using a very sharp knife, finely slice across the roll, creating ribbons of basil.

This technique is called the chiffonade and minimizes the bruising that usually happens with slicing/chopping basil.

Fluff up the rice gently with a fork.

Serve chicken over the fluffy rice, top w a dab of sriracha and a sprinkling of fresh basil.

Go Paleo…

Instead of rice, serve the chicken over crisp lettuce leaves.

To me, Thai means 3 things:
*Basil
*Peanut
*Peppers

This dish has the essence of Thai flavours. It’s so yummy, even Miss Picky couldn’t stop eating it.
After all, she does have a taste for beautiful things.

Comments

Cocoa and Lavender says

July 5, 2013 at 14:17

I absolutely love lab and, you are right… no toasted rice in our pantry! I will definitely be trying this – love all the flavors! xox David

Colette Joseph says

July 5, 2013 at 20:47

Let me know how you guys like it, D. xo

Guru Uru says

July 8, 2013 at 09:58

I love thai food, reckon I could make this delicious recipe with tofu?
So flavour filled!

Cheers
CCU

Colette Joseph says

July 8, 2013 at 16:04

Absolutely! Firm tofu or TVP, even maybe edamame (soy beans) would be great meat subs. xo

karen piba says

July 9, 2013 at 09:22

This Thai chicken is tasty its amazing thank you and well done
Love your site
Xxxx

Colette Joseph says

July 9, 2013 at 15:29

Thanks, Piba love. Hope you try it. xoxo

Andrea_TheKitchenLioness says

July 10, 2013 at 15:24

Colette, that is a delicious looking thai chicken and thanks for the tip about making our own toasted rice powder – this all sounds like a perfect family meal that everyone will enjoy tremendously – and we also wrap a lot of our Asian foods in lettuce, the kids love that too, it is really a great idea and delicious too!
Colette, thanks for posting this wonderful recipe!

Colette Joseph says

July 10, 2013 at 19:09

It's an easy one. SO tasty! Hope you try it, doll. Keep me posted!

joumana Accad says

July 14, 2013 at 17:54

You reminded me of my days of baking when my kids were small; thankfully they ate anything; still it is a challenge and I applaud your efforts! this chicken dish sounds fabulous and the technique with the rice so interesting; besides anything Thai in my book is bound to be good.

Colette Joseph says

July 15, 2013 at 16:03

Hope you try it, Joumana. It's a lovely one.