Thai It You'll Like It Chicken

Copyright: Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals

2 tablespoons sesame, peanut, or vegetable oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into thin strips
1 red bell pepper, cut into ¼ inch strips
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 serrano hot pepper, seeded and minced
4 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce, or a few shakes of soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ cup of water
1 cup loosely packed basil leaves
Jasmine rice, cooked

In a wok, or large non-stick skillet, heat sesame oil ovfer high heat until hot. Stir-fry chicken for four minutes. Add red bell pepper, garlic, and Serrano. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes. Add hoisin, fish sauce, sugar, and water. Throw in basil and toss until it wilts. Dump out onto a bed of jasmine rice. Garnish with any extra basil leaves. Feeds up to four well.

Nonni’s Notes:

Don't call it Thai It You'll Like It Chicken. Call it Gar-Thai Chicken (Mom's note: Don't call it that, either.)
Use sesame oil for sautéing.
Use green bell pepper instead of red.
Cut the chicken into chunks.
Forget the fish/soy sauce.
Add some red pepper flakes to the chicken before adding the sauce.
Jasmine rice? Nope. Try linguine.
Use a whole bulb of garlic. Put most of it in the chicken. Leave some out for the noodles.

To the cooked linguine, add:

The rest of the garlic, sautéed in a bit of olive and sesame oil. Toss in some red pepper flakes, to taste. Sautee for a second, toss in the noodles, and toss together off the heat. Just before serving, toss in 1 bunch chopped cilantro. Serve topped with chicken.