Experience a taste of Thailand at home with our Thai Ginger Chicken Stir Fry. This dish is ready in just 30 minutes! It features delicious chicken, sharp onions, and invigorating ginger, all in a tantalizing sauce.
Thai Ginger Chicken Stir Fry, known as Gai Pad King, is a popular Thai dish featuring thinly sliced chicken stir-fried with ginger, garlic, and onions. It’s seasoned with soy sauce, fish sauce, and oyster sauce, creating a savory, slightly spicy, and aromatic flavor. This dish is often garnished with green onions and served with brown rice or white rice. It embodies the balance and freshness characteristic of Thai cuisine. The ginger imparts a unique zest, making it a flavorful meal choice.
Imagine the sizzle and aroma as you sear the perfectly sliced chicken strips in a hot wok, adding in ginger matchsticks, chunks of yellow onions, and a generous sprinkle of garlic. So, roll up your sleeves, grab that wok, and get ready to wok and roll with our Thai Ginger Chicken Stir Fry!
Table of Contents
Reasons To Love This Stir Fry Chicken
- This Thai Ginger Chicken Stir-Fry is a combination of spicy ginger, savory chicken, and sweet onions for a delightful taste.
- The aroma of ginger and spices creates an inviting, mouth-watering scent.
- This dish is versatile. It is easily adaptable to include various vegetables or proteins to suit personal tastes.
- The warm, soothing flavors of this Ginger Chicken recipe make it a comforting dish for any occasion.
Recipe Ingredients
- Chicken Breast: The primary protein in the dish that provides a lean and flavorful base.
- Ginger: Used in matchsticks, it adds a distinctive, spicy flavor that’s key to the dish.
- Yellow Onion: These large chunks add sweetness and a satisfying crunch.
- Garlic: Chopped garlic enhances the flavor profile with its pungent, aromatic qualities.
- Scallions: Sliced scallions bring a mild, onion-like flavor and a fresh, green touch to the stir fry.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations
- Chicken Variation: While I’m using thinly sliced skinless chicken breasts for their lean texture and quick cooking time, you can also substitute with chicken thighs for a juicier texture. Alternately, you can use pork, beef, shrimp, or cubed tofu to cater to different dietary preferences or to add variety.
- Vegetable Medley: Enrich the dish with vegetables like mushrooms, broccoli, and red bell pepper, enhancing both nutrition and color.
- Vegetable Oil Variation: For cooking, you can use neutral oils such as canola or sunflower oil, which provide a high smoke point and subtle taste.
- Spicy Kick: For an extra kick, introduce a spicy pepper, such as Thai chili, red pepper, or jalapeño, finely sliced to infuse a bold, spicy note into the dish.
- Scallion Alternative: For an additional twist to the Thai Ginger Chicken Stir Fry, consider incorporating basil into the recipe. Adding fresh basil, especially Thai basil if available, will introduce a sweet, slightly spicy flavor that pairs excellently with the ginger and garlic.
How to Make Thai Ginger Chicken Stir Fry
Step #1: Whisk the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. Toss the chicken breast with 1 tablespoon of fish sauce.
Step #2: Heat a wok over high heat for 5 minutes. Swirl in one tablespoon of oil. Once the oil is shimmering, add the chicken pieces. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the pieces are all separated and lightly browned, about 2 minutes.
Step #3: Add the onion and stir-fry for another 2 minutes until golden. Then, transfer the scallions, ginger, and garlic to the pan. Stir-fry for 60 seconds, until the garlic begins to brown.
Step #4: Stir the sauce and pour it into the pan. Let it bubble up and boil until thick, about 60-90 seconds.
Step #5: Serve with jasmine rice.
Expert Tips
- Chicken Uniformity: Slice chicken into even, bite-sized pieces for consistent cooking. This uniformity ensures each piece is perfectly cooked, avoiding any overcooked or undercooked sections.
- Marinate Chicken: Briefly marinate the chicken in fish sauce for added depth of flavor.
- Stir-Fry Ginger and Garlic First: Briefly stir-fry ginger and garlic to release their aromas before adding other ingredients.
- Use Cornstarch: For a silkier, thicker sauce in your Thai Ginger Chicken Stir Fry, dissolve a small amount of cornstarch in cold water and add it to the stir-fry sauce. This will help to thicken the sauce, allowing it to coat the chicken and vegetables more effectively.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can use a large skillet if a wok isn’t available for Thai Ginger Chicken Stir Fry. Ensure it’s sufficiently large to allow ingredients to move freely for even cooking. The key is to maintain medium-high heat for a quick sear and to stir frequently for uniform cooking, similar to using a wok. This ensures that your ingredients are cooked thoroughly without burning.
Fresh ginger is highly recommended for its vibrant flavor and authentic Thai taste. Ground ginger can be a fallback option, but the flavor profile will differ significantly.
The chicken is cooked when its interior is no longer pink and the exterior has a light golden brown color. It’s important not to overcook to maintain tenderness.
To keep the chicken tender, avoid overcooking it. Remove it from the heat as soon as it’s just cooked through. Overcooking can make it tough and dry.
Storage Info
Store Thai Ginger Chicken Stir Fry in an airtight container in the refrigerator; it will stay good for up to 3-4 days. Freezing is possible, but the texture of the vegetables may change upon thawing. To reheat, warm it in a skillet over medium heat until heated through, which helps preserve the texture better than microwaving. If frozen, thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.
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Thai Ginger Chicken Stir Fry Recipe
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Ingredients
For the Sauce
- 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon regular or dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sugar
For the Stir Fry
- 2 1/2 cups thinly sliced chicken breast - about 2 large chicken breasts
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon peanut or vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup thinly sliced ginger matchsticks
- 3 cups large chunks of yellow onion
- 3 tablespoons chopped garlic cloves - about 7-9 cloves
- 1 cup sliced scallions - about 3-4
Instructions
- Whisk the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. Toss the chicken breast with 1 tablespoon of fish sauce.
- Heat a wok over high heat for 5 minutes. Swirl in one tablespoon of oil. Once the oil is shimmering, add the chicken pieces. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the pieces are all separated and lightly browned, about 2 minutes.
- Add the onion and stir-fry for another 2 minutes until golden. Then, transfer the scallions, ginger, and garlic to the pan. Stir-fry for 60 seconds, until the garlic begins to brown.
- Stir the sauce and pour it into the pan. Let it bubble up and boil until thick, about 60-90 seconds.
- Serve with jasmine rice.
NOTES
Nutrition
Love Thai food, and this was so easy and delicious! Definitely making it again.
Percet recipe! I‘ve lived in Thailand many years and enjoyed this dish so much. And this recipe really brings back good memories.
Hi Matthias, so glad you loved it and that it brought back good memories! – Linda
Recipe looks great! Can’t wait to try it.
I’m considering using dark sweet soy sauce in place of the soy sauce and sugar- do you think that would work?
Thanks 🙂
You could give it a shot, though if I were you I might add a bit of hot water to the mix, because dark sweet soy sauce is usually pretty thick. Let me know how it turns out!
Yesss! I’m exactly the same way. Super adventurous at home, scared to death of new food at restaurants! If they could just show me the recipe before I order? 😉
This looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it!
Thank you for the nice recipe Anetta and have a great Sunday.