Pad Kra Pao Moo Sap (Holy Basil Pork)
Minced pork stir-fried with garlic, bird’s eye chilli and holy basil, served over rice with a crisp-edged fried egg.
- Region
- Central Thailand
- Condiments
- Fish Sauce, Oyster Sauce, Thai Soy Sauces, Prik Nam Pla
- Vegetables
- Holy Basil, Bird’s Eye Chilli, Garlic
Ingredients
- 300 g minced pork (not too lean)
- 5 cloves garlic
- 4–10 bird’s eye chillies
- 1 long red chilli, sliced (optional, for colour)
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp light soy sauce
- ½ tsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tbsp water
- 2 large handfuls holy basil leaves (bai kra pao)
- 2 tbsp neutral oil, plus more for frying the eggs
- 2 eggs
- Cooked jasmine rice, to serve
- Prik nam pla (fish sauce with sliced chillies), to serve
Instructions
This is Thailand’s default lunch: cheap, quick and on the menu at almost every street stall. It should be hot, salty and peppery from the holy basil, not sweet, and not swimming in sauce.
Holy basil (kra pao) has a peppery, clove-like taste that is quite different from Thai sweet basil (horapha). Use holy basil if you can find it; Thai sweet basil is the next best thing, and it will still be very good.
Method
- Pound the garlic and bird’s eye chillies together into a coarse paste. Mix the oyster sauce, both soy sauces, fish sauce, sugar and water in a small bowl.
- Fry the eggs first: heat about 1 cm of oil in a wok until very hot and fry each egg, spooning hot oil over the top, until the white is puffed with brown, crisp edges and the yolk is still runny. Set aside and pour off most of the oil.
- Heat 2 tbsp oil in the wok over high heat. Add the garlic-chilli paste and fry for 15–20 seconds until fragrant. Stand back: the chilli fumes are strong.
- Add the pork and break it up with the spatula. Stir-fry for 3–4 minutes until cooked through and starting to catch at the edges.
- Pour in the sauce and toss until it coats the pork and mostly evaporates. Add the sliced long chilli if using.
- Turn off the heat, add the basil and toss for 10 seconds until just wilted.
- Serve over rice with the fried egg on top and a small dish of prik nam pla on the side.
Cook’s tips
- Chop pork by hand from a piece of shoulder for the best texture; it stays juicier than shop-bought mince.
- Works just as well with chicken, beef, prawns or crumbled firm tofu.
Aroy Mak Mak
Aroy Mak Mak is a small team writing about the food of Thailand and its neighbours: recipes you can cook at home, guides to the ingredients behind them, and places worth travelling for. The name means "very delicious" in Thai. Every recipe on the site lists its ingredients, timings and method in full, explains the techniques that matter, and suggests substitutes for ingredients that are hard to find outside Thailand. The guides to regions, condiments, vegetables and fruits explain what things are, how they are used and how to buy and store them. Place pages are researched from current sources, including the latest Michelin Guide Thailand, official websites and maps, and give addresses, opening hours and what to order. Where a detail could not be confirmed, it is left out rather than guessed.