Phad Kra Pow (Thai Basil Stir-Fry)

Phad Kra Pow is a flavorful and aromatic Thai dish made with meat (commonly chicken, pork, or beef), fresh basil, and a spicy-sweet sauce. One of the very spicy foods in Thailand.

Phad Kra Pow is often served over rice with a fried egg on top. Here's how to make it:

Ingredients
(Serves 2-3)

For the stir-fry:
300g (10.5 oz) ground or thinly sliced chicken, pork, or beef. Thai food is generally made with chicken or pork.
3-4 cloves garlic, minced. This ingredient adds a pungent flavor to many food recipes in Thailand.
2-4 bird's eye chilies (adjust to taste), finely chopped. We did mention that the Phad Kra Pao Thai food dish, is spicy and these Thai chillis are very hot.
1 small onion, thinly sliced (optional)
1 red chili, sliced for garnish (optional). The bird eye chillis mentioned as an ingredient above add sufficient, heat to your Phad Kra Pow! The red chillis are more to add color to the dish.
1 cup fresh Thai holy basil leaves (or Thai sweet basil as a substitute).
2 tbsp vegetable oil. While it is not necessary to make your Phad Kra Pow very oily, you do not want to go less than 2 tablespoons. You do not want your spicy Phad Kra Pao to be too sticky.

For the sauce:
Thai food is always about spice and flavor, the Phad Kra Pow is no exception. You have three sauces and sugar as ingredients to make this popular food dish in Thailand.
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce (or soy sauce for a vegetarian option)
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp sugar (or adjust to taste)

To serve:
There are two ways in which Phad Kra Pow is commonly plated. You might come across food sellers, spreading the Phad Kra Pow on top of the steamed rice. Another option would be to keep the spicy dish, the steamed rice and the fried egg separately on the plate.
Steamed jasmine rice
Fried egg (one per serving)

Instructions
Prepare the ingredients:
Mince the garlic and chilies together for a stronger flavor. Pick the basil leaves from the stems. You still have time to moderate the number of chillis! Thai Phad Kra Pow is a very spicy dish – meant to be that way.

Mix the sauce:
In a small bowl, combine oyster sauce, fish sauce, dark soy sauce, and sugar. Set aside.

Cook the meat:
Heat vegetable oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and chili mixture. Stir-fry for 30 seconds until fragrant. Make sure that the heat is not too high.
Add the ground meat. Stir-fry until cooked through and browned. You want the Phad Kra Pow to be well cooked but not, over cooked for sure.

Add sauce and basil:
Pour the prepared sauce over the meat. Stir well to coat everything evenly.
Toss in the basil leaves and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute, just until wilted. The timing of when the basil leaves would be put into the pan is important. You want the flavor of the basil leaves to be retained, so put the leaves in just when the rest of the dish is almost fully cooked in the pan. From our experience 30 to 40 seconds is the time for which the basil leaves can be heated – without them losing flavor.

Fry the egg:
Heat a small amount of oil in a separate pan. Fry an egg sunny-side up or to your preference. If you happen to eat Phad Kra Pow in a restaurant in Thailand, you might be given a more ‘elaborately’ fried egg with your spicy Thai dish. Sauces could be beaten into the egg before being fried.

Assemble and serve:
Serve the stir-fry over steamed jasmine rice. Top each serving with a fried egg. Garnish with sliced red chili if desired. This is where you decide how your Phat Kra Pow is served. Keeping the rice, Phad Kra Pao and egg separate is probably, a nice way – unless you are very familiar with Thai food.

Tips:
Adjust chili quantity based on your spice tolerance.
Holy basil gives the authentic Phad Kra Pow flavor, but sweet basil can be used if unavailable.
For a vegetarian version, use tofu instead of meat and soy sauce instead of fish sauce.

Enjoy your Phad Kra Pow Thai with family and friends! Be open to comments and suggestions as you can always, fine tune the ingredients when you make it again. Thai food is globally famous and many visitors to Thailand, love to try and make a few popular Thai dishes when they are back home – Phad Kra Pow Thai is one of them.

Read the full recipe on Phat Kra Pao Thai with useful tips on making this popular Thai food dish: https://www.saw2day.org/thai-food-phat-khra-pao-thai-01-0656.php

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