Pad Krapow

Pad Krapow Moo Sap (Thai Stir-Fried Minced Pork with Holy Basil)

The quintessential Thai street-lunch: fierce chilli and garlic heat, savoury minced pork and an avalanche of holy basil, all spooned over jasmine rice and crowned with a runny-yolked crispy fried egg.

Prep

15 min

Cook

10 min

Total

25 min

Serves

4

Difficulty

Easy

Recipe ingredients

• •600 g (21 oz) minced pork, around 20% fat for flavour; chicken thigh mince is the classic alternative
• •30 g (¼ cup loosely packed) fresh holy basil leaves (bai kaprow), do not substitute Thai sweet basil or Italian basil — the flavour is completely different
• •12 g (about 8 cloves) garlic, finely chopped
• •6 g (4–6) Thai bird's-eye chillies, finely chopped; pad krapow should be hot — adjust to taste
• •20 ml (4 tsp) soy sauce, Thai light soy if available
• •10 ml (2 tsp) dark soy sauce, for colour
• •10 g (2 tsp) palm sugar, finely chopped; soft brown sugar is the closest substitute
• •15 ml (1 Tbsp) fish sauce
• •30 ml (2 Tbsp) water or unsalted chicken stock
• •45 ml (3 Tbsp) neutral cooking oil, divided: 1 Tbsp for the stir-fry, the rest for the eggs
• •4 whole eggs, for frying; cook sunny-side up with crispy edges
• •600 g (3 cups uncooked) jasmine rice, rinsed and steamed, to serve; about 1.1 kg / 5½ cups cooked

Steps

1. 1 Cook the jasmine rice: combine the rinsed rice with water (roughly 1:1.1 rice-to-water by volume for standard absorption method, or follow your rice cooker) and steam until tender. Keep warm.
2. 2 Make the seasoning sauce: in a small bowl, stir together the soy sauce, dark soy sauce, fish sauce, palm sugar and water/stock until the sugar is dissolved. Set by the wok.
3. 3 Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok over high heat until just smoking. Add the chopped garlic and chillies and stir-fry for about 15 seconds — they should smell fierce and fragrant, not browned.
4. 4 Add the minced pork. Using a spatula, break it up and press it flat against the wok in a thin layer; let it sear undisturbed for 20–30 seconds to develop some caramelisation, then stir-fry, breaking it into small crumbles, until just cooked through, 2–3 minutes. The pork is done when there is no pink and the crumbles feel springy, with an internal temperature of 71 °C / 160 °F measured at the thickest point.
5. 5 Pour the seasoning sauce around the edge of the wok. Toss and stir-fry for 30 seconds to coat the pork and reduce slightly.
6. 6 Tear the holy basil leaves from the stems (discarding stems), pile them on top of the pork, toss once and immediately cover the wok for 10–15 seconds to wilt them. The basil should turn dark green, wilted and intensely aromatic — do not over-stir or it will bruise black. Remove from the heat.
7. 7 While the basil wilts, fry the eggs in a separate pan: heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high until shimmering, crack each egg in carefully, and fry 1½–2 minutes until the whites are lacy and crisp at the edges but the yolks are still completely runny. Season lightly with a pinch of salt.
8. 8 To serve: mound hot jasmine rice on each plate (or in a takeaway container), pile the pad krapow next to or over the rice, and lay a crispy fried egg on top. At the table, break the yolk and mix it through the pork and rice before eating. A small dish of prik nam som (fish sauce with sliced chillies and lime) or prik nam pla (fish sauce with chillies only) is the traditional accompaniment.
9. 9 Doneness cues to rely on: pork is fully cooked with no pink, garlic is fragrant but not bitter-dark, basil is wilted but still bright green, and the egg yolk runs freely when pierced.