Thai food is one of our favorite cuisines. Of course, after Indian food! I love the flavors in Thai cuisine - the coconut milk, fresh herbs and spices. Whenever we go to Thai restaurants, fried rice is one thing I love to order. Unlike the Chinese fried rice, Thai fried rice is packed full of lovely flavors and doesn't really need any side dish to go with it.
Today's recipe is a Thai style spicy fried rice with loads of veggies and basil leaves. I adapted the recipe from here and tweaked a bit to suit our taste buds. I prefer to use cold rice for fried rice always, otherwise freshly cooked rice can sometimes turn bit mushy. You can add any vegetables you got in your hand. If you have leftover rice and prepped all your veggies, this fried rice can be prepared in 15-20 minutes. I love to serve with fresh cucumber slices to balance out all the spice. Off to the recipe!
THAI BASIL FRIED RICE RECIPE
{ Thai style fried rice with vegetables and basil leaves }Serves 3-4
Ingredients:
1 cup jasmine rice / short grain rice
2 tbsp oil
2 garlic, finely chopped
½ inch ginger, grated
1 red chilly, finely chopped
1 medium onion, sliced
½ red capsicum (bell pepper)
½ yellow capsicum (bell pepper)
1 cup broccoli florets
1 small carrot, cut into matchsticks
8-10 green beans, cut into 1 ½ long pieces
10-12 mushrooms, sliced
3 tsp sambal paste / red chilly paste
1 tsp soy sauce
½ tsp sugar
½ cup packed basil leaves, roughly chopped
Salt to taste
Method:
1. Wash the rice well and cook the rice until soft and grains are separated. Spread on a plate and let it cool completely.
2. In a large wok, heat oil and add garlic, ginger and red chilly. Fry for 30 seconds. Then add onion and fry for 3-4 minutes.
3. Add all the vegetables and fry in medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes. Add the sambal paste, soy sauce, sugar and fry for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the cooked rice, salt and toss everything well until combined. Add basil leaves and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
Notes and Tips
- If you prefer less spice, add only 1 tsp of chilly paste or sambal.
- You can add other vegetables like zucchini, baby corn, sugar snap peas etc.
- To get non sticky rice, once the rice is cooked, cool it and refrigerate for at least an hour.
- You can scramble eggs and add to the rice at the end.
