Pad Krapao Gai

Thailand's national stir-fry: minced chicken cooked furiously over high heat with holy basil, garlic, and bird's eye chilli: served with rice and a fried egg

Origin: Bangkok, Thailand

From the journey of Basil.

If Thailand had an official national dish, it would be pad krapao. It appears in every shophouse canteen from the southern islands to the northern highlands; it is what Thais eat when they are tired and hungry and want something fast and completely satisfying. The genius of pad krapao is elemental: minced meat, bird's eye chilli, garlic, fish sauce, oyster sauce, and (at the last possible moment, in the hottest wok) a generous handful of krapao leaves. Krapao is Ocimum tenuiflorum, the same holy basil sacred in India, but the Thai culinary relationship is entirely different: not devotional but gastronomic. Krapao has a pungent, clove-like heat that no other basil replicates. It is added off the heat or at the very end because thirty seconds in a hot wok transforms it from peppery and vibrant to soft and wilted: still fragrant, but structurally different. Thai basil (horapa) can be substituted but is not the same. The runny-yolk fried egg on top is not optional.

Ingredients

Stir-fry

400 g minced (ground) chicken
2 cups loosely packed fresh holy basil (krapao) leaves, Thai basil is a substitute only
5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
4 bird's eye chillies, roughly chopped (adjust to heat tolerance)
3 tbsp neutral oil (for stir-frying)

Sauce

2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
0.5 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp white sugar

To serve

2 eggs, for frying
jasmine rice, cooked

Method

Combine all sauce ingredients in a small bowl and stir until sugar dissolves. Set aside. Have all ingredients prepped and within arm's reach: this dish cooks in under 4 minutes.
Heat a wok over the highest heat possible until smoking. Add oil. Add garlic and chillies and stir-fry vigorously for 15–20 seconds until fragrant and beginning to colour.
Add the minced chicken. Break up any clumps immediately and stir-fry over maximum heat for 2–3 minutes, spreading the meat across the wok surface to maximise caramelisation.
Pour in the sauce mixture. Toss and stir-fry for 1 minute until the sauce coats and caramelises the meat slightly.
Remove from heat. Add the holy basil leaves and toss vigorously: residual heat will wilt them in 20–30 seconds. Do not return to flame.
Fry the eggs in very hot oil until the edges are crispy and lacy but the yolk is still runny. Plate the krapao over jasmine rice and top with the fried egg. Serve with sliced fresh chillies and fish sauce on the side.

Notes

Holy basil (krapao) is not the same as Thai basil (horapa). Holy basil has a clove-pepper quality; Thai basil is more anise-sweet. In Thailand both are used but krapao is the correct choice for this dish. Outside Thailand, holy basil is found at Asian supermarkets. The dish also works with minced pork, beef, prawns, or mixed seafood.

The Gastrographer

Name: Pad Krapao Gai
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: Thailand
Ingredients: 400 g minced (ground) chicken; 2 cups loosely packed fresh holy basil (krapao) leaves, Thai basil is a substitute only; 5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped; 4 bird's eye chillies, roughly chopped (adjust to heat tolerance); 3 tbsp neutral oil (for stir-frying); 2 tbsp fish sauce; 1 tbsp oyster sauce; 1 tbsp light soy sauce; 0.5 tsp dark soy sauce; 1 tsp white sugar; 2 eggs, for frying; jasmine rice, cooked

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control