thai basil mussel & shrimp stir-fry

There are few countries whose cuisine can boast of the exotic allure of Thailand. Fragrant Thai basil, gingery, camphorous galangal & pungent fish sauce provide the aromatics for this quick Thai basil mussel & shrimp stir-fry. 

Hands up who is sick of Thanksgiving leftovers. Hopefully by now you’ve got thrifty like I did & turned those leftovers into other recipes – in my case pea & ham soup & wild rice turkey stew. Our freezer is brimming with meals for my husband’s lunch & nights when no one feels like cooking. I needed something light & a little more cosmopolitan than leftover turkey. All snobbery aside, I cannot help my cravings & I turn to my ever favorite food – Thai. 

I would quite happily eat seafood every night. What’s not to love? Pound for pound it’s the same price, if not cheaper than most meats; it cooks in a flash & contains fewer calories than your run-of-the-mill meat proteins. Plus it’s so worldly – such a willing companion for globe trotting recipes. 

Some South East Asian ingredients may be unfamiliar to people who don’t cook it on a regular basis, if at all. Galangal – a rhizome & cousin of ginger, imparts a flavor like nothing comparable. Along with Thai basil, it’s one of the main flavoring ingredients in this stir-fry. If you feel you simple can’t source galangal or Thai basil – use ginger & regular basil, just know, it won’t be quite the same, though still tasty I’m sure.  I’ve found galangal easily in every place I’ve lived in the world so if you have an Asian market near (or far), source it. Galangal freezes so what you don’t use wrap-up & pop it into the freezer. It’ll give you an excuse to make this recipe again. 

Until next time, toodles, Lovoni xo

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