Thai Basil Chicken Recipe (Pad Krapow Gai) — 15-Minute Thai Classic

About This Recipe

Pad krapow gai (Thai holy basil stir-fry with chicken) is Thailand's most popular everyday dish — eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The combination of ground chicken, oyster sauce, fish sauce and fresh holy basil with a fried egg on top is beloved across the country. It's also one of the quickest and most flavourful things you can cook.

Ingredients

Serves 2

• 300 gminced chicken or pork
• 4 clovesgarlic(roughly chopped)
• 3–5Thai chillis(or 1 large chilli, roughly chopped)
• 1 cupfresh Thai holy basil leaves(or Italian basil)
• 2 tbspoyster sauce
• 1 tbspfish sauce
• 1 tspsoy sauce
• 1 tspsugar
• 2 tbspvegetable oil
• 2eggs(for fried eggs on top)
• 300 gjasmine rice(steamed, to serve)

Instructions

1. 1

   Pound garlic and chilli

   Roughly pound garlic and chilli in a pestle and mortar (or just chop finely together). You want a coarse paste with texture, not a smooth one.

2. 2

   Stir-fry

   Heat oil in a wok over maximum heat until smoking. Add garlic-chilli paste and stir-fry 30 seconds until fragrant and starting to colour.

   Maximum heat is essential for wok hei (the smoky, charred flavour) — don't be timid with the heat.

3. 3

   Add chicken and sauce

   Add minced chicken and break it up with a spatula. Stir-fry on high heat until cooked through — about 3 minutes. Add oyster sauce, fish sauce, soy and sugar. Toss to combine for 1 minute. Add a splash of water if it looks dry.

4. 4

   Add basil and serve

   Turn off the heat. Add basil leaves and toss — the residual heat wilts them without losing their flavour. Serve over rice, topped with a fried egg (cooked in hot oil until the edges are crispy).

Variations

• •

  With shrimp: replace chicken with whole peeled shrimp — reduce cooking time to 2 minutes.

• •

  Vegetarian: use crumbled firm tofu and replace fish sauce with soy sauce.

Storage

Best eaten immediately. Leftovers refrigerate for 2 days but lose the wok-char flavour.

Frequently Asked Questions