pineapple basil shrimp stir fry

sometimes nothing is better to me than a good ol' asian stir fry with some kick. and they're always so easy to make. if you haven't noticed "cooking" to me is simple, easy food. no fuss no muss. that's the way i like my food and my life.

see these little thai peppers?? these are the ones that burned my tongue, nose and finger tips. remember? the Rachael Ray recipe calls for ONE SINGLE pepper but i figured that she was taming the spiciness level to fit most people across the US. good god was i wrong! at most two peppers is spicy enough. 

the recipe called for chicken but i didn't have any, so i went with shrimp. 

spicy pineapple basil shrimp stir fry


ingredients:
- vegetable oil for stir frying
- 30-35 shrimp peeled and deveined
- finely ground white pepper and salt
- 1 c fresh pineapple cut into bite size pieces
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
- a bunch of long chinese green beans cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
- 2 thai chili peppers, seeded and sliced in half
- 1 inch ginger, grated
- 4 large cloves of garlic, chopped
- 2 tbs fish sauce
- 1 c basil leaves sliced into thin strips
- juice from 1/2 lime, plus the zest of 1 lime

directions:


1. put vegetable oil in a pan and heat to medium high
2. season shrimp with salt and white pepper
3. cook shrimp until just pink and set aside
4. put a little more vegetable oil in pan and cook pineapple, bell pepper, green beans, thai chilis and garlic until the pineapple begins to brown on the edges and the vegetables cook through
5. stir in fish sauce
6. stir in shrimp
7. turn heat off and add basil strips, lime juice and zest and stir together
8. serve with white rice!

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a couple more things.....

-take out the thai chilis when it's done cooking or your mouth will be on fiyaaaah!!

-in Rachael Ray's recipe it gives instructions on how to cook jasmine rice. her recipe includes chicken stock and butter. that is absurd. rice does not need to be flavored. it's fantastic in all it's glory on it's own. why do non-Asians feel the need to put butter in everything? rice, seriously??