Recipe Edition: Spicy Thai Basil Beef

I love to cook me some Asian food.  I don’t know what it is about.  I love the flavors, I love the variety of vegetables, proteins, and spices.  I like to use fish sauce, soy sauce, hoison sauce, lime juice, sriracha, etc.  I like to add peppers.  I like to use a wok and a very high heat stove.  And I have found some good dishes to add to my repertoire.  The pad kee mao and pad thai were already winners that I had found and tried.  The chicken and cashew stirfry from my cooking class is one not to let go of.  And the latest is spicy Thai basil beef.  I made it on Monday and it was very, very good.

I think what Bryan and I like about Thai food are the complex flavors that Thai food has, which I am learning come from just a few common ingredients.  These would be:

• Soy sauce (obviously, but Thai is not as heavy on soy as other Asian cuisines which reduces the sodium a little bit too)
• Fish sauce (distinct flavor but good)
• Lime juice (freshness)
• Basil (omg)
• Peanuts (still speaking my language)

These ingredients are in almost every single Thai dish that I have made so far.  The Thai basil beef was served as a stirfry alongside rice.  It starts out with slicing the beef thin and marinating the beef in a quick combination of 2 garlic cloves and equal parts rice vinegar and soy sauce.  While the meat was getting good I prepped the vegetables.  This included:

• One red bell pepper
• 4 green onions
• 1/2 jalapeno (called for serano but I had a 1/2 jalapeno on hand)
• 1/2 lb green beans cut to 1″ and steamed for 5 minutes (I of course probably doubled it)
• some red onion (just had it already diced on hand)
• 2 garlic cloves

Then you brown the beef for just a few minutes, working in batches as my wok is not very big.  I used my new rice bran oil which I am already very please with.  Once the beef is browned and removed you cook all of your vegetables together for about 6 minutes or until the peppers or tender but I still like a good crunch.  Then you add your beef and a sauce of lime, soy sauce, and fish sauce.  At the last minute you stir in the basil and tada.  Fabulous!

Chelsea