Prepare everything first
This is a fast stir-fry, so have everything ready before you turn on the heat.
Combine the oyster sauce, fish sauce, light soy, optional dark soy, optional honey and water in a small bowl.
Pick the basil leaves from the stems.
Mince the garlic and chilli together fairly roughly.
I wouldn't turn them into a smooth paste. Little pieces of fried garlic and chilli are part of what I want in the finished dish.
Heat the pan properly
Place a wok or large frying pan over high heat.
Let it get properly hot before adding the oil.
Add 1 tablespoon neutral oil and swirl it around the pan.
Fry the garlic and chilli
Add the garlic and chilli.
Stir-fry for around 15–20 seconds.
You're looking for fragrance and just the beginning of colour on the garlic.
Don't stand there frying it for a minute. Garlic can go from fragrant to burnt very quickly at this temperature.
If you're using shallot, add it now and stir-fry for another 30 seconds.
Brown the chicken
Add the chicken mince.
Spread it across the hot surface of the pan and leave it alone for around 45–60 seconds before breaking it apart.
This gives at least some of the chicken a chance to brown.
Then break the mince into relatively small pieces and stir-fry for another 3–4 minutes.
I don't want the chicken boiled in its own liquid.
If a lot of water comes out, keep the heat high and let that moisture evaporate before adding the sauce.
Add the sauce
Pour the prepared sauce around the chicken.
Toss everything together over high heat.
Cook for approximately 1–2 minutes, until the sauce has reduced and is clinging to the mince.
There should be enough sauce to flavour the rice underneath, but there shouldn't be a puddle of liquid at the bottom of the wok.
Taste it.
You should get salty, savoury, spicy and slightly sweet, rather than a noticeably sweet stir-fry.
Add the basil
Turn off the heat or reduce it to very low.
Add the basil leaves.
Toss them through the chicken for around 20–30 seconds, just until wilted.
Don't cook the basil for several minutes. I want to keep as much of its fresh aroma as possible.
Set the chicken aside while you fry the eggs.
Crispy Thai-Style Fried Eggs
Heat the oil
Add 3–4 tablespoons neutral oil to a small frying pan or wok.
Heat over medium-high to high heat.
This is intentionally more oil than I'd normally use to fry an egg.
The hot oil is what creates those crispy, blistered edges.
Fry the eggs
Crack an egg into a small bowl first, then carefully slide it into the hot oil.
The white should immediately begin bubbling around the edges.
Tilt the pan slightly and use a spoon to carefully spoon some hot oil over the egg white.
Try to avoid repeatedly pouring oil directly over the yolk if you want it runny.
Cook for approximately 60–90 seconds, until the white is cooked and the edges are deeply golden and crisp.
Remove and drain briefly.
Repeat with the remaining eggs.
Assemble
Add jasmine rice to each plate.
Spoon a generous amount of basil chicken beside or partly over the rice.
Place a crispy fried egg on top.
Add cucumber slices alongside.
I like breaking the yolk immediately so it runs through the basil chicken and into the rice.