Recipes

Stir Fried Pork with Basil & Chili

Pad Kaprao Moo Kai Dow

Ground pork stir-fried with holy basil, garlic, and chili in a sticky brown sauce

Prep

5 min

Cook

5 min

Serves

4

Heat

hot

Pad Kaprow might be the single most-ordered dish in Thailand, and its success comes down to getting a few details right: using holy basil rather than the sweeter Thai basil used in curries, letting the pork brown and stick a little in the pan before deglazing to build real depth, and adding the basil only at the very last second so it wilts without fully cooking. Garlic and chili, crushed rather than finely minced, keep some texture in the finished dish, while yardlong beans add a little crunch against the soft, saucy pork. Topped with a crispy fried egg and a mound of hot rice, it's the definition of Thai comfort food.

Ingredients

• 2 2/3 cups Ground pork loin
• 5 1/3 cups Holy basil leaves
• 1 1/3 cups Yardlong beans (cut into 1/2-inch pieces)
• 8 Thai hot chilies (to taste, crushed with the garlic)
• 8 Garlic cloves (crushed with the chili, not too fine)
• 5 1/3 tablespoons Oyster sauce
• 5 1/3 teaspoons Light soy sauce
• 2 2/3 teaspoons Dark sweet soy sauce
• 2 2/3 teaspoons Sugar
• 2/3 cup Water

Directions

1. Pick the basil leaves. Cut the beans into 1/2-inch pieces. Crush the garlic and chili together with a mortar and pestle, leaving them somewhat coarse.
2. If serving with a fried egg on top, fry it first and set aside.
3. Heat oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Add the crushed garlic and chili and fry for about 30 seconds.
4. Add the ground pork and mix in with the garlic and chili. Fry for about 2 minutes, until most of the pink is gone and it's nearly cooked.
5. Add the oyster sauce and light soy sauce. Mix in well and fry for about 30 seconds.
6. Add the sugar and the beans. Stir well and fry for about 30 seconds, until the sugar fully melts.
7. Add the dark sweet soy sauce and mix in. Fry for about a minute, until the meat starts to dry out a little and browns slightly in the pan — this browning builds flavor.
8. Add the water, stirring to fully deglaze the pan and pull the browned flavor back into the sauce. Fry for about 30 seconds to reduce it into a gravy.
9. Add the basil and stir quickly. Cook just a few seconds, until the basil wilts slightly. Remove from heat and serve right away.
10. Serve over hot jasmine rice, topped with a fried egg if desired, or on a shared plate as part of a family meal.

Notes

Let the pork brown and stick slightly to the pan before deglazing with water — that browning is a real source of flavor, not something to avoid by stirring too much or adding liquid too early.

Substitutions

Chicken, beef, or seafood can replace the ground pork. Holy basil (Krapow) is essential for the correct flavor — Thai sweet basil (Horapah) has a completely different, unsuitable taste for this dish.