Thai basil pork
Pork mince stir-fried with lots of garlic, chilli and Thai basil, served with jasmine rice and a fried egg. On the table in twenty minutes.
Cook modeAbout the dish
Pad kra pao is one of the most popular everyday dishes in Thailand and is on almost every menu in Bangkok. At home I like to make it when there is leftover rice and I want something hot in twenty minutes. The pork is stir-fried hard with lots of garlic and chilli, splashed with a savoury sauce and tossed with basil. It comes with jasmine rice and a fried egg with a runny yolk.
The original uses holy basil, which is hard to find here. Thai basil from an Asian grocer is a good choice. If you cannot get it, use ordinary basil with a few mint leaves. It tastes a little different, but still very good.
Use more garlic than you are used to. You control the heat with the chillies, and three red ones from the supermarket are already quite hot for most people. Fish sauce and a little sugar make the sauce savoury and well rounded. In Thailand the fried egg is part of it, and the cucumber on the side is nice and cooling against the heat.
The key is a really hot pan. If the mince releases water, turn up the heat and wait until the liquid has cooked off. Only then add the sauce, and the basil right at the end.
Ingredients
Steps
What to drink
Ice-cold pilsner
A very cold, crisp pilsner goes much better with the heat and the fish sauce than wine does.
Variations
- With chicken
- Use the same amount of chicken mince and fry it for a minute less, or it dries out.
- Less heat
- Use just one chilli with the seeds removed, or even half. Keep the same amount of garlic.
- With beans
- Cut a handful of green beans into short pieces and fry them with the mince for 2 minutes before the sauce goes in.