I love Thai basil fried rice for its distinctive taste and aroma. This dish is simple and quite easy to make at home. It also gives a break from the regular fried rice you are used to. My recipe for this simple dish is as follows:

Ingredients

• 1 cup of Basmati/Jasmine Rice
• 1/2 bell pepper (sliced)
• 5 shrimps (deveined)
• 1/4lb flank steak
• 1/4 chicken breast
• 1 carrot (chopped)
• 1 onion (sliced)
• 1 tomato (cut into 4)
• 1 thumb ginger (grated)
• 2 garlic cloves (crushed)
• Thai basil leaves (1 cup)
• 2 tsps chilli paste (or more)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• Salt to taste
• 1 tbsp oil

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Method

1. Wash rice properly and boil on low heat for about 15 minutes. Transfer rice to a tray and completely cool.
2. Heat oil in a wok, and add in your onions and fry until golden brown.
3. Add in carrots, bell peppers, ginger, and garlic in that order. Stir-fry on low heat for about three minutes.
4. Add in red chilli paste, sugar, salt and soy sauce and stir-fry for about four minutes more.
5. Add in the cooked rice and mix until well incorporated.
6. Add in Thai basil leaves, tomatoes and shrimps and mix lightly. Cover to steam for about five minutes on low heat.
7. Taste for seasoning and adjust to taste buds.
8. Serve rice and enjoy.

Note

• You can also boil rice the day before. A day olds rice works really well.
• I added the tomatoes at the stage of the sugar, but I noticed my tomatoes got overcooked and gave my rice a distinct taste I did not like. So I have altered the recipe to add the tomatoes at a later stage.

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