Thai Basil Chicken or Pad Kra Pao Gai Sap
In this Thai basil chicken recipe, you’ll learn to cook an authentic Thai street version of the dish.
Thai basil chicken, better known in Thai as pad kra pao gai (ผัดกระเพราไก่ pad ka prao gai), is a contender for the most popular, and the most beloved Thai street food dish of all time.
You know sometimes when you go to a restaurant and you have no idea what to order, or even what you wan
t to eat?
When that happens in Thailand, pad kra pao gai (ผัดกระเพราไก่, with chicken), or any type of meat stir fried with Thai holy basil, is a dish that comes to the rescue!
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 chicken breast (or any other cut of boneless chicken, about 200 grams)
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 4 – 10 Thai chilies – when you fry the chilies, they aren’t as spicy
- 1 tablespoon oil for frying
- 1 handful of Thai holy basil leaves (really try to get holy basil)
SEASONING:
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon of oyster sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon light soy sauce
PREPARATION:
Basil chicken
- Rinse and peel the garlic and chilies, and pound them in a mortar and pestle (alternatively you can just mince them with a knife). They don’t need to be super fine, you just want to bring out the oils and flavors from the garlic and chilies.
- Minced the chicken meat.
- Pluck a good sized handful of holy basil leaves off the stems.
- Now it’s time to start cooking. Heat your wok on high heat, and add about 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan.
- When the oil is hot, add the chilies and garlic. Stir fry them for about 20 seconds or so until they get really fragrant, but don’t let them burn or get too dry.
- Toss in your chicken. Keep stir frying continuously. At this stage you want to continue to stir and cook your chicken until it’s just about fully cooked all the way through (depending on the size pieces of chicken and how hot your fire is, it should take about 2 – 3 minutes). If it starts to get dry, add just a tiny splash of water.
- Add 1 teaspoon of oyster sauce, ½ teaspoon light soy sauce, Keep stir frying for about another 30 seconds.
- Grab a handful of holy basil, toss it into the pan, fold it into the chicken, and then immediately turn off the heat (if you’re using an electric stove, you’ll want to remove the pan from the burner). The holy basil really only needs to cook for about 5 seconds, and it will continue to wilt and cook from the existing heat of the chicken. This step is important because if you cook the basil for too long, it loses some of its glorious flavor and gets slightly chewy.
Notes
Make sure your rice is cooked and ready to be served before you start cooking… believe me on this one, because there’s nothing more disappointing than finishing a pan of pad kra pao gai (ผัดกระเพราไก่) only to realize your rice isn’t cooked yet!
Remember that the ingredients listed here are just a guide – they are the amounts I used – but you should really taste test all the Thai food you cook, and make it according to the way you like it!
