Thai food is one of my favourite cuisines and this is one of my favourite thai dishes. When I travelled around Thailand for 6 weeks, this is what I would order frequently- it’s a spicy, garlicky stir fry with a sweet touch of Thai basil. Thai basil is an absolute game changer for that authentic thai sauce- you can now buy it from most major supermarkets or online. If you’re struggling to find it however, you can just use Italian basil. Typically, this dish is made with minced pork but you can use any minced meat/ pieces. I find that using tofu and mushrooms, is just as nice and healthier. I like my food to have strong flavours so have used lots of garlic, chilli and thai basil. If you don’t like these flavours as strong, just reduce the amounts to your liking.

Ingredients: (serves 6- change quantities according to how many people you are serving)

⁃ 15 garlic cloves (don’t be shy!)

⁃ 8 thai chillies (more or less depending on their heat and how hot you want it)

⁃ 2 onions, sliced

⁃ 1 kg minced meat- I used 500g chestnut mushrooms, chopped and 500g tofu, crumbled up

⁃ 1 pack of green beans, chopped into thirds

⁃ Thai basil (I love this flavour so added 3 whole packs, but you can just use 1 or 2 packs to your liking)

Sauce:

⁃ 4 tbsp light soy sauce

⁃ 4 tbsp oyster sauce (or veggie mushroom ‘oyster’ sauce alternative)

⁃ 3 tbsp fish sauce (or seaweed veggie alternative)

⁃ 4 tbsp sugar

⁃ Pinch of salt

To serve: (optional)

⁃ Jasmine or sticky thai rice

⁃ Fried egg

⁃ Lettuce and cucumber

⁃ Side sauce: (3 garlic cloves- chopped, 3 thai chillies- sliced, 4 tbsp of fish sauce, 4 tbsp of lime juice, 3 tbsp of sugar)

Method:

1. Start cooking some jasmine/ sticky rice if using.

2. Mix all the stir fry sauce ingredients together and save for later. Also mix together the ingredients for the side sauce if using.

3. Grind the garlic cloves and chillies with a pinch of salt in the pestle and mortar. If you don’t have one you could blend it or finely chop it.

4. In a wok, add some oil until the base of the wok is coated. When the oil is hot, add in your chilli garlic mix and stir for a few seconds.

5. Add in the onions and mix.

6. Then add in your chopped mushrooms and crumbled tofu or meat. Stir.

7. If using pieces of meat wait a few minutes to cook before you add your green beans and sauce, but if using tofu/ mushrooms or mince, this cooks quickly, so add in your green beans and sauce soon after.

8. Cook for a further 5 minutes until everything is well cooked and mixed together.

9. At this point you can make your fried eggs if using. I crack into a pan with oil, then add a little water to the pan and a lid, and leave for a few minutes, until the white is cooked and the yolk is runny.

10. At the very last minute, add in your thai basil to the stir fry and take of the heat. Stir well.

11. Serve with rice, the fried egg, lettuce and cucumber and side sauce.