Thursday, June 18, 2009

Chicken Sauteed in Ginger and Basil


Well, as usual, my dinner didn't end up anything like the picture in the cookbook. In this case, it's because I was translating an Asian-style recipe from my French cookbook, Venez Dîner C'est Prêt by Dominique Malet. The cookbook was a souvenir from France from my friend Jessica.

This recipe was Poulet Sauté au Gingembre et au basilic. (Chicken Sauteed in ginger and basil)

Please, please understand that while this turned out delicious, I relied on my own brain for the translation and I may not have read the recipe correctly.

Ingredients
Four chicken breasts, skinless and boneless, cut into stir fry pieces
4 cloves garlic, chopped (I'm going to up this next time)
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated fine (I may double this next time)
One 15-ounce can chicken broth*
1 tablespoon oil
3 tablespoons soy sauce (I use low sodium)
1 tablespoon powdered sugar (weird, eh?)
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 handfuls basil leaves (I used a lot and I shredded mine by hand, next time I may double)
Sesame seeds for decoration

*The original recipe called for three tablespoons bouillon, prepared, but I have no idea how much that would be so I just used a can and made extra sauce to cook broccoli and pour on the rice. Maybe that's why mine tasted mild. And I ended up cooking the meat in juice, as opposed to stir-frying it in a wok. My wok is too small for all that chicken.

Gather ingredients so they are easily at hand for cooking.
Heat oil in pan. (on high)
Add garlic and ginger. Cook for several seconds. Add chicken and cook for two minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Add sugar, soy sauce and then the broth. Cook five more minutes. (I cooked longer, my chicken chunks were on the thick side.) At the end of five minutes, add sesame oil and basil leaves.
Serve immediately with rice. Garnish with basil leaves and/or sesame seeds. I also poured a Vouvray, though the book recommended a meursault (bourgogne).

I pulled all the chicken out of the juice and then cooked some fresh broccoli in it. I also put a fresh baguette on the table.

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