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Spicy Thai Fried Rice is a quick, easy and delicious Thai dish.
It gets its distinct taste and aroma from the sauces such as oyster sauce and fish sauce as well as fresh Thai basil.
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Thai basil has a different flavor than the regular Italian basil and makes a lot of difference in the recipe. You can find Thai basil at any Asian grocery store. It is also known as holy basil.
Being an Indian I love spicy food. Though I love exploring the world cuisine my most favorite ones are Thai, Chinese and Mexican as they satisfy my love for spice.
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I came across this dish when I moved to USA and instantly fell in love with it.
I have always loved a fried rice and finding a new version of it excited me.
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How to cook the rice for fried rice?
Its believed that you cannot make a perfect fried rice without following the correct rice cooking technique.
The perfect rice for this dish is Jasmine rice. Firstly wash the rice to remove the loose starch. Its the loose starch that makes the rice sticky. Then put it in a strainer for 10 mins to drain out all the water. This is essential because it will help in adding correct amount of water to the rice while cooking.
Take the washed 2 cups of rice in a pot/pan and add 3 and ½ cup of water to it. Put it on a high heat till it starts bubbling. Then turn down the heat to medium and let it cook.
When the rice appears a little above the water, turn the heat low and put a lid on the pot with slight gap to let some steam pass. Cook for 5 mins then shut the gas and cover the pot completely with lid. Let it rest for another 10 mins.
Now take a fork and loosen up the rice. Pour the cooked rice in a flat tray or pan and then refrigerate it for at least 30 to 40 mins.
The best would be if you make the rice for fried rice a day before and refrigerate it. A day old rice is less sticky and doesnt stick to the pan or wok while cooking.
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Now that we have the rice ready lets get down to the easy and quick Spicy
Spicy Thai Basil Chicken Fried Rice
Equipment
- Wok / Pan / Kadhai
- Spatula
- Mortar & pestle / Grinder
- Small bowl
- Spoon
Ingredients
For Fried Rice
- 3 Cups Thinly sliced chicken
- 5 Bird's eye chili / Thai red chili
- 4 cloves Garlic
- ½ teaspoon Sea Salt
- 4 cups Cooked jasmine rice Cooked and refrigerated for at least an hour
- ¼ cup Oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon Soy sauce light
- 1 tablespoon Fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon Sugar preferably White
- 2 tablespoon Oil Vegetable or Sesame
- 1 Small yellow onion sliced
- 1 cup Thai Basil / Holy basil
- 3 Eggs optional
For Chicken Marinade
- 2 teaspoon Fish Sauce
- ¼ teaspoon Black Pepper optional use white pepper
Instructions
Marinate
- Marinate the thinly sliced chicken with fish sauce and black pepper and let it rest for about an hour.
Cook Rice for fried rice
- Follow the instructions provided earlier in the post and cook the rice for fried rice. A day old rice works like magic. Remember do not be tempted to add more water to rice while cooking. You can always use a leftover rice.
- Ingredients
Making fried egg
- Take a wok with some oil for frying and heat it up. Add one egg to the hot oil and fry it gently adding some hot oil on top continuously.
- Once slightly golden browned from sides and perfectly cooked drain it on a paper towel.
Making Fried Rice
- Take mortar and pestle and pound the garlic, chilis and sea salt in coarse paste. If you are using grinder just pulse it few times.
- Take a small bowl and combine oyster sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce and sugar to make the stir-fry sauce. Stir it well and set it aside for later. Doing this in beginning gives sugar the time to dissolve completely.
- Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan over high heat.
- In the hot oil add the onions and cook them for about 30 seconds.
- Then add the garlic and chili paste and stir it for another 30 seconds.
- Now add the marinated chicken and stir and cook it for 3 - 4 mins till the chicken cooks and the water left by the chicken reduces.
- Add the rice followed by the stir-fry sauce.
- Stir-fry it till well combined and evenly colored. Add Thai basil to it, toss it in and remove from the heat.
- Serve the rice with fried egg on top.
Notes
- Holy Basil or Thai basil has a nice spicy and slightly minty flavor. However if you cant find Thai basil you can use Italian basil.
- Do not add excess salt as fish sauce is salty.
- A day old refrigerated rice is the best for this recipe.
- You can replace the chicken with any other protein. For vegetarian option you can replace it with tofu.
- Ideally fresh red chilis are best for this recipe, however if not available then you can use Thai dried red chilis. Soak them in hot water for couple of hours then drain and use them. I used them once during lockdown since I didn't have access to fresh ones.
- Use less chilis for a milder dish.
Sushma
Looks yummy n will try it thanks for recipe😊
prajakta.palkar
Thank you sushma, do try and let me know how it turned out.
Jyoti
It turned out amazing! Thank you for the recipe and it was easy to cook too.
Prajakta
I am so glad it turned out good.
Tana
Amazing!! I’ve always been a fan of fried rice and basil- but putting them together is such a game-changer!
prajakta.palkar
Thank you Tana, Yes that Thai basil is definitely a game changer in this dish.
Anita
This looks absolutely delicious!! I love a good fried rice with eggs. A spicy one would certainly be a change for me, but I am open to try it.
prajakta.palkar
Thank you Anita. You can reduce the number of chilis to reduce heat. It will still taste good. I do that when I cook for my kid as he doesn't eat too spicy.
Cathy
This looks so good! Cannot wait to make it! 🙂
prajakta.palkar
thank you.
dorry lyn
my son loves fried rice. will try your recipe. thanks for sharing
Julianne
Yum! Thai fried rice is one of my favourite takeout foods and this sounds like such a delicious way to make it at home! Thank you so much for sharing 🤤❤️
prajakta.palkar
Thank you. Do try it at home and let me know how it turned out.
Sher
Love Thai!! My Thai friend told me they actually use some other leaves other than basil in Thailand. I wonder if we can buy that in the US. But I’m addicted to basil anyway hahah
prajakta.palkar
Hi Sher, Thank you. Yes If you think of just Thai fried rice and not Thai basil fried rice, then some people add Chinese broccoli leaves or even scallions to it. But I like the flavor of Thai basil which is different from Italian basil in flavors.
Francy
I love thai food. It is my favorite when l go to the restourant. This looks a delicious recipe. I need to try 😁
prajakta.palkar
Thank you. Its my favorite too. Do try this at home its very easy.
Mummageddon
this sounds so yum. Must see if my local market sells this thai basil!!!
prajakta.palkar
Thanks. You can always use italian basil if you dont find thai basil.
Britt
Wow you put sooooo much effort into this, love seeing how this amazing dish evolved. Love it!!!
Monica Tatomir
I love rice. And spicy food so this is a great combination for me. Will have to try it! Thank you!
prajakta.palkar
Do tell me how it turned out.
Brie
This looks soooo good and the pictures are so helpful! Great job. Can’t wait to make this!
prajakta.palkar
Thank you so much Brie.
4blessingsandus
I love Thai food. I’ll be trying this recipe this weekend. Thanks for sharing!
Kunal Majumder
This is one of my favourite food. I just love it with this lemon basal basa will be the awesome combination. Tryout sometime.
Viano
Spicy anythings work all the time. This is definitely worth trying. Thanks for the recipe
Emily Fata
Wow, this recipe looks soooo tasty! I would love to give it a try soon, to taste it for myself with tofu.
Kuntala Bhattacharya
Yeah I need to try it out as the cook is not there and I have to try different things at home, especially with rice being the staple diet
Emman Damian
Thai Basil Fried Rice sounds so yummy! I hope to eat it soon. So nice!
Emily Flint
I LOVE fried rice and eggs but I've never tried it with Thai basil...which I also love! This is going to be on the menu this weekend!
Mike Johnson
Made this at home in a cast iron skillet on an electric stove and it came out excellent! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!!
Prajakta
I am so glad you liked it.
Luna S
I love a good rice dish, this sounds and looks pretty tasty.
Deanna
This sounds like it will be going on the menu this week!
Stephanie
I love fried rice of all types and this one is awesome! Such a great flavor and different from what I normally make.
Tweenselmom
this looks so yum! really need to try this to give my rice a variety 🙂
Healing Oils
I love basil and I love rice so it's a no brainer for me. Lovely recipe.
Beth
Your fried rice recipe looks delish. I cannot wait to try it 🙂
SONIA SEIVWRIGHT
I love Thai food. I can't wait to try this out.
Fransic verso
This looks so yummy and we love to do fried rice. I've had it with eggs as well which taste yummy.
Prajakta
thank you.
Clarice
It's been a while since I had Thai food and this looks really delicious. Will make sure to use Jasmine rice for this dish. Can't wait to try it. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Prajakta
thank you.