Passin' round the basil

Groups of women sharing herbs. Sharing herbs is, in a cultural sense at least, what groups of women are *for*. Herbs for impressing a guy, herbs for bandaging up a kid, and herbs, historically at least, for when you don’t have the first and are in danger of the second. Women passing around herbs - it might as well be the definition of society.

My personal herb sharing network – ooh, that sounds so much more illicit than it actually is – says right now is the time to pass around some Basil. I know this because I got handed some this morning over the wall of my cube. Apparently the super hot weather we’ve been having has been perfect for Basil growin’, and now that it’s cooled down it’s time to munch before the plants start to do some crazy flowering.

But while gifting is all very well, what do you do with all that fresh Basil?

We asked Pee Jim, absurdly capable guide of Khmer ruins to high-ranking military officials in the Thailand university town of Burriram (it has its own market!) near the Cambodia border. And even tho as a devout Buddhist she often fasts after 12, she’s willing to do a bit of culinary creativity for the local monestary; feed the monks, get a blessing. But not the nuns – their major spiritual duty seems to be washing the dishes.

Pee Jim’s fried basil w/ chicken wings, adapted with a lot of internet help

Mix together:
1 tablespoon fish sauce
A bit of finely chopped lemongrass if you’ve got it.
10-15 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoons chopped fresh red chilis
quarter cup chopped cilantro
quarter cup rice whisky (or whatever sort you have around
2 tbsp olive oil (my addition)
2 tbsp of ketchup

Cut off the tips of a couple dozen wing, rinse and dry ‘em off, toss them into the marinade, and stick the whole thing in the fridge overnight. Grill or bake ‘em at 375 'till they're nice and crispy.

Holy basil is what you really want for this - but go for the smaller leaves of other varieties if you have to. Rinse off and dry your basil – lots and lots of it, and strip the leaves. I mean it about drying it well, squeeze it out between paper towels and lay it flat for a little while if you have to.

Get a nice big wok with a couple inches of peanut oil and heat it super hot, almost to smoking – a drop of water should spit all over the place. Then drop in handfuls of the leaves – they’ll only need a few seconds to get nice and crispy – and lift ‘em out with a slotted spoon to drain on a paper towel.

Gently mix together the leaves and wings to keep from crushing them. Toss in another handful of chopped red chilies – or you might want to saute the chilis up a bit first. A sprinkle of salt over the finished product…It’s a dish fit for a monk.