10 mins
10 mins
Easy
2
INGREDIENTS
- 300 g Boneless chicken thigh, coarsely minced by hand
- 1.5 cups Fresh holy basil leaves
- 6 cloves Garlic, peeled
- 8 Bird’s eye chilies
- 1 tbsp Oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp Light soy sauce
- 1 tsp Dark soy sauce
- 1 tsp High-quality fish sauce
- 0.5 tsp Palm sugar
- 2 Large eggs
- 4 tbsp Neutral cooking oil
- 2 portions Steamed jasmine rice, for serving
SHOP THE RECIPE
PAD KR PAO
Thai Holy Basil Stir Fry Sauce
$6.00
Instructions
Fry the Perfect Egg
Heat the neutral oil in a wok or small frying pan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Crack in the eggs one at a time, frying until the edges blister into a golden, crispy lace while leaving the yolk gloriously runny. Remove and set aside.
Pound the Aromatics
Place the fresh garlic cloves and bird’s eye chilies into a traditional stone mortar. Vigorously pound them with a pestle until they form a coarse, uneven paste. This crucial crushing action releases pungent essential oils that chopping with a knife simply cannot achieve.
Sear the Chicken
Leave exactly two tablespoons of the frying oil in the hot wok over medium-high heat. Fry the chili-garlic paste for just fifteen seconds until intensely fragrant. Immediately add the coarsely minced chicken, pressing it flat against the hot metal to achieve a savory sear before breaking it apart.
Caramelize the Sauce
Once the chicken is mostly opaque, toss it with the oyster sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, fish sauce, and palm sugar. Stir-fry rapidly over high heat until the sauce reduces and tightly glazes the meat. An authentic Pad Kra Pao should be relatively dry, never swimming in a watery liquid.
Wilt the Holy Basil
Turn the stove off completely. Immediately fold the fresh holy basil leaves into the steaming hot chicken, tossing for exactly ten seconds. The residual heat will perfectly wilt the leaves without destroying their delicate oils. Serve immediately over steamed jasmine rice, topped with the crispy fried egg.