This basil fried rice recipe immediately caught my attention when I ordered it in a Thai restaurant because it differs from most Chinese fried rice I have tried.

Using three types of chilies and fresh basil is the key to preparing basil fried rice with fantastic flavor. I recreate it at home, which takes less than fifteen minutes with all the ingredients ready.

I will explain how I prepare Thai basil fried rice in this article.  You are likely to get all the ingredients easily except the Thai chili paste, which is unique.

If you like this basil fried rice recipe, run to the nearby Asian grocery store, where they will most likely keep the Thai chili paste as their regular stock.

Let’s get started.

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🛒Ingredients needed for basil fried rice

• Choice of protein. I use chicken breast meat in this basil fried rice recipe. Alternatively, you can use shrimp or tofu as the protein sauce.
• Basil. Thai holy basil is the choice for this basil fried rice recipe. However, since it is not always available, especially if you are not in Thailand, you can use Italian basil or other variants to prepare the fried rice. I use the regular basil available at the market, which is close to Thai basil.
• Eggs. The Thai-style fried egg differs quite from the western fried egg, such as the sunny-side-up egg. The Thai version is done with plenty of oil over medium heat, creating a crispy crust at the edges. It’s the crispy bits that make it incredibly delicious.  You must cook it with an open mind if you used to cook the perfect French-style fried egg.
• Chilies: I used three types of chilies – bird’s eye chilies, Thai chili paste, and chili flakes. I used these different types because they have different flavors, although they are spicy. If you find it too complicated, you might want to simplify by using only the bird’s eye chilies or the chili flakes.
• Seasonings. The seasonings include oyster sauce, light soy sauce, fish sauce, and sugar.
• Cooked rice. Leftover rice stored in the refrigerator overnight is best for making fried rice. More information about this can be found in the following sections.
• Other vegetables and garnish. Lime, cucumber, and tomato are the vegetables and also serve as garnish, which is refreshing considering the spiciness of the fried rice.

👉 Basil fried rice recipe – the step-by-step instruction

Here are the steps to prepare the basil fried rice.

a. Preparation

1. Cut the chicken breast meat into thin slices, about 1.5 inches in length. Marinate the chicken for half an hour with light soy sauce and salt.

2. After marinating, stir-fry the chicken with some oil in the wok. I like to sear each side for a while until lightly golden. The flavor of the meat is better with this treatment.

3. Crush a few cloves of garlic and give them a few chops. Cut off the stem of the bird’s eye chiles. Remove the seeds should you prefer to be less hot, then cut them into short sections. Place the garlic and chilies in the mortar and grind them into a paste.

4. Prepare the fried rice sauce by mixing the following ingredients: oyster sauce, light soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar, and water. Clean the fresh basil leaves thoroughly, then drain them in a colander before use. 

b, Cooking

1. Add sufficient oil to the wok enough to cover an egg. Heat the oil to medium heat, crack an egg, and place it gently at the center of the oil.  Let it fry undisturbed until the edges bubble up and turn crispy. 

2. Keep some oil from frying the egg in a well-seasoned wok at low-medium heat.  Add the leftover rice, mix with the oil thoroughly, and use the wok spatula to break up all the lumps. Each rice grain is coated with oil, which reduces the chances of sticking to the wok when stir-frying over high heat later.  Gradually increase the heat from low-medium to medium-high. Continue stir-frying the rice until it jumps and pops in the wok.

3. Add the stir-fry sauce gradually and stir-fry at medium-high until the rice absorbs all the seasonings. Keep the rice dry by slowly adding the wet seasonings to avoid the rice becoming soggy and sticky. Remove the rice from the wok.

4. Saute the ground garlic and chili. Add the chili flakes and Thai chili paste to the wok when it turns aromatic.

5. Return the cooked rice and chicken to the wok. Stir-fry over medium-high until the chili paste is incorporated with the rice thoroughly.

6. Finally, throw in a large handful of washed, fresh Thai basil leaves and stir-fry over high heat until the basil leaves start to wilt. 

7. Remove and serve with the fried egg, sliced cucumber, lime, and tomatoes.

💡Tips to make the best basil fried rice

• The seasoning required is the tested trio of stir-fry sauces for Thai cooking- light soy sauce, oyster sauce, and fish sauce. I usually do not use dark soy sauce as the rice looks more appetizing with a bright color. I suggest measuring each ingredient and mixing them in a small bowl if you are not confident about the amount used while cooking. Professional chefs will eyeball the amount of rice in the wok and pour the correct amount of sauces separately into the rice, backed by their vast experience.
• You can use the vegetarian oyster sauce to prepare a vegetarian basil fried rice. Fish sauce and oyster sauce are available at any Asian grocery store.
• The best kitchenware to prepare fried rice is a cast iron wok. Otherwise, you can use a large skillet should you not have a wok.
• Stir-frying the rice at high heat before dishing it out is the key to generating the signature wok aroma of fried rice.
• Since Thai chili paste is not very spicy, adding some bird’s eye chilies is required. The reason for adding chili flakes is because they have a different taste since they are made from dried chili peppers. Therefore, the chili combination has a more wholesome flavor than just using one type of chili. It also means you need to love spicy food to enjoy Thai cuisine. 
• You can adjust the spice level without compromising the flavor by removing the bird’s eye chili seeds before grinding them into a paste. You may use red bell peppers as a substitute if you can’t take the heat of the Thai chilies.
• Leftover rice, especially day-old rice, is the best for fried rice. If you do not have leftover rice, you can spread the fresh rice thinly on a large pan, then place it under a fan to blow it for twenty minutes before frying it. This step helps dry the surface and prevent it from sticking to the wok.

🗄️ How to store the leftovers of the rice?

While cold and returning to room temperature, the fried rice can be kept for half a day at room temperature or two days if stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

When we worked in the restaurant, we only fried the rice with the seasoning alone and kept it overnight in the refrigerator. Then we will prepare and cook other ingredients such as meat and egg the following day, and combine them with the rice. This way, the time required to serve the customers is substantially reduced. Plain fried rice is also used as the base to make different types of fried rice for the customers,

📖 Like Thai food? Here are some of the Thai recipes on this food blog for you:

• Thai pineapple fried rice. Another famous Thai fried rice.
• How to cook Chinese fried rice. This article will give you more tips on cooking the best fried rice.

Continue to Content

Basil Fried Rice Recipe

Yield: 2

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Thai basil fried rice is the dish I regularly order at my favorite Thai restaurant. However, you can make this at home in less than fifteen minutes with all the ingredients ready. The use of three types of chilies and fresh basil is the key to preparing basil fried rice with fantastic flavor.

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Ingredients

A (main ingredients)

• 250g chicken breast meat
• 2 tsp light soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4 cloves garlic
• 5 bird's eye chilies
• 2 tbsp Thai chili paste
• 1/2 tsp chili flakes
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 400g left-over rice
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves
• 2 eggs
• vegetables oil for frying

B (stir-fry sauce)

• 1 tbsp of oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp of light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp of fish sauce
• 1 tsp of sugar
• 1 tbsp of water

C (garnish)

• Lime wedges
• Cucumber slices
• Tomato slices

Instructions

Preparation

1. Cut the chicken breast meat into thin slices, about 1.5 inches in length.
2. Marinate the chicken for half an hour with light soy sauce and salt.
3. Stir-fry the chicken with some oil in the wok until lightly golden. 
4. Crush a few cloves of garlic and give them a few chops.
5. Cut off the stem of the bird’s eye chiles. Remove the seeds.
6. Grind the garlic and chili into a paste.
7. Clean the fresh basil leaves thoroughly, then drain them in a colander before use. 
8. Add sufficient oil into the wok enough to cover an egg. Heat the oil to medium heat, crack an egg, and place it gently at the center of the oil. Let it fry undisturbed until the edges bubble up and turn crispy.

Fry the rice

1. Heat the oil in the wok, add the leftover rice and use the wok spatula to break up all the lumps. Gradually increase the heat from low-medium to medium-high. Continue stir-frying the rice until they jump and pop in the wok.
2. Add the stir-fry sauce (B) gradually and continue to stir-fry at medium-high until the rice absorbs all the seasonings. Remove the rice from the wok.
3. Heat some oil to saute the ground garlic and chili. Add some chili flakes and Thai chili paste to the wok when it turns aromatic.
4. Return the cooked rice to the wok. Stir-fry over medium-high until the chili paste is incorporated with the rice thoroughly.
5. Now add the chicken to the rice, and mix well.
6. Finally, throw in a large handful of washed, fresh Thai basil leaves and stir-fry over high heat until the basil leaves start to wilt. 
7. Remove and serve with the fried egg, sliced cucumber, lime, and tomatoes.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield: 2 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 787Total Fat: 20gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 294mgSodium: 2525mgCarbohydrates: 94gFiber: 7gSugar: 18gProtein: 58g

This data was provided and calculated by Nutritionix on 12/6/2022