Resepi Basil Chicken

[Heron Mathis]

NoteTo see the exact steps for making this Thai basil chicken recipe, scroll down below to the recipe box, or keep reading for more of an explanation of this amazing Thai dish and an in-depth look into some of the ingredients.

Unlike mincing, grinding really releases all the juices and oils of the chilies and garlic and it brings out an extra depth of flavor, which in return makes the entire dish of chicken basil more vibrant, garlicky and spicy.

The first step is to fry the egg. Thai fried eggs are more like deep fried eggs, cooked in lots of oil. The extra oil gives them a lovely crispiness on the outside edges, and they taste so incredibly good mixed with the rice and chicken.

The more modern rendition of pad kra pao (the one your local Thai restaurant probably makes) contains veggies like green beans and onions; along with a more complex seasoning that might include oyster sauce, soy sauce, and dark soy sauce. This recipe, however, is an old-school, traditional style that is much simpler. Many Thais call this the original pad gaprao!

Pad kra pao literally means "holy basil stir fry," so the holy basil is the key ingredient here. This recipe uses ground beef, but can be made with any kind of protein. Of all Thai stir fries, this is one of the easiest to make, and a great weeknight recipe as minimal prep is required. And it's gluten free!

Here's a bird's eye view of the steps. Before you make it, be sure to watch the video tutorial in order to ensure success, especially if this is your first time! If you enjoy it, check out my YouTube channel for more Thai cooking videos!

Prik nam pla is the classic condiment that is served with many Thai dishes, and is used as a tableside seasoning booster. Pad kra pao is usually served with it because the fried egg can always use some extra seasoning.

While you might be tempted to use Thai basil as a substitute because it's...well...Thai, in my experience, you're better off using regular basil, also known as Italian basil. The flavour of Thai basil is so distinct from holy basil that you will end up with a dish that tastes quite different (though still tasty).

There are so many cuts of beef on the market, and if you've ever wanted to try a new beef cut but not sure what to do with it, check this out. Canada Beef, our sponsor for this post, has launched the Canadian Beef Information Gateway which breaks down over 70 cuts of beef, complete with info on how to best cook them and new recipes you can try out.

Have made a few of your recipes and this is next on my list! Preparing to take my 10yo to Thailand later this year - she has been a picky eater, but she is branching out and enjoying new things, with a focus on Thai due to our upcoming travels. Wondering what you would suggest with regards to chilis here? She will not like anything hot (a tiny bit of heat in anything can send her to not eat it). Would she still find it tasty if I leave out the chilis for her portion and add them in after I remove hers?

So good!!! I taught English in Chiang Mai for a few years and pad kra pao was my lunchtime dish along with a rotation of others, but something about pad kra pao and the fried egg, with the spice, the prik nam pla and a splash of vinegar, it was my every other day meal. Coming back home to America, unfortunately this absolute treasure of a dish is often left off of Thai menus. I was so happy to try this recipe and found the absolute magic of this dish is the fish sauce and extra spiciness. It is the best, I love to add in some grilled onions and some kind of green bean or broccoli with it. Still wondering why I never took a cooking class while I was there!! First on my list if I can visit again. Thank you!!

This recipe is absolutely incredible, I felt love in every bite. Perfect blend of salty, spicy, and herbaceous with plenty of umami. I had garlic chives that needed to be used up, so I added a good half cup or so of those and some sliced carrots for extra veggies. I had Thai basil to use on hand and mini bell peppers instead of mild Chile, but I did add the Thai hot chilies. The flavor was stunning. Thank you for sharing, I love all of your recipes so much!

Pai! This was seriously delicious in every way possible. It embodies what I love about Thai food, the utter balance of flavors. This left me wishing I had a bigger stomach so I could eat more. So easy and so incredibly good. I used fresh, Italian basil from my garden and it was perfect. Can't wait for the day I actually see Holy Basil in the store and can make this again using it.

This was so easy and super yummy! So much so, I made it two days in a row. On the second day I did add veggies: carrots and asparagus.

This is the third recipe of Pai's that I have made and all are stellar ?

It is a regular, to the point I do not look at the recipe anymore. The only change I make is to use thinly sliced flank steak. We just prefer the texture. It is also a bit easier to eat with chop sticks.

The metric ingredients for one dish of this recipe include a staggering

"340 g ground beef, regular or lean". Really? And while I'm aware that the recipe uses what seems like quite a lot of herb, 30 g still seem way overdone.

Also the metric world does not measure granulated sugar, let alone chopped up chilies as volume. It has invented scales for this purpose. Why would I want to transfer chili bits to a measuring cup, then try frantically to discern the level they reach, knowing fully well that if I give the measuring cup a little shake the level will be different.

What I'm trying to say is to have an underlying algorithm that simply employs equivalents between milliliters and cups doesn't work. I'm afraid you would actually have to take both measurements while preparing the dish and thus prepare an underlying table of figures for the button push mechanism.

Here in Germany I have never come across holy basil aka Tulsi - neither as a harvested herb nor as a plant. What I did come across though a few years ago is what is sold here as African Bush Basil. Wikipedia has it down as African blue basil, see here

_blue_basil

Like holy basil it seems to have a lot of camphor. It tastes a little bitter, a little peppery and I've used it as a substitute in pad gaprao several times. While I have no comparison with the original ingredient it tastes perfectly fine to me and PG has become one of my favorite dishes.

To boot African Blue Back grows exceedingly well on my balcony in our temperate climate - lots of leaves to harvest. I would say I could dish out four servings of PG every week with lots of basil in it easily. If you cut it back in the late autumn and take the pot inside where it's not too warm you can use it for two or three years in a row.

Thank you for always showing nice recipes!

I have a question about "Holy Basil".

I've been struggling to find the correct "Holy Basil" in Japan. I'm a cooking researcher who's never visited Thailand! I wish I could ask you directly.

Anyway, my client asked me to use real fresh holy basil to making Gapao, but it is impossible to get fresh holy basil in a shop here so I bought seeds and planted them.

I've gotten some leaves recently, however, I think this is not the same one that you showed on the video.

I think mine is "tulsi". The leaves are hard like plastic! Do you think it will work as well for these your holy basil recipes?

Hi! So the leaves shouldn't be hard.. so probably not the same thing. Tulsi is theoretically supposed to be the same but it doesn't sound like that's the right one. If you want to send a photo of the leaves to the email under "contact" we can try to investigate further!

Very nice recipe - straight-forward and easy to follow. The video is especially helpful. I looked it up because I had Thai basil I needed to use. I had no Fresno chiles, so I used Jalapeos - otherwise, I followed your recipe as written. Mine was a bit spicier than the dish according to the recipe but it was fine - even my wife who doesn't like food as spicy as I do, said it was good. Thank you for the fried egg tip.

Pad kra pao has to be my favorite Thai recipe ever! I just made it today for lunch, with regular basil as tulsi is impossible to find in Spain. It was really easy and as delicious as the one I remember eating in Thailand. Thank you s much for this recipe!

This is the 3rd recipe that I have cooked from your collection, and as always with the written and video tutorial it worked perfectly. I have just come back from Bangkok, and while there on business I always eat street food.

I have now decided because your recipes are so good, to cook much more Thai at home. I will do you deep fried chicken next, as this is a staple for me from the street venders. Oh, and I am cooking the crispy skin pork belly tonight.

Terrific dish! Your recipe is straight-forward and easy to follow. The video showed me all the steps and gave me confidence I was doing it right. It comes together quickly yet I wasn't rushed and had time to clean up and put away ingredients as I went along. My wife, who is averse to spicy food, said this had the right balance between spicy heat and flavors. It's a keeper in our house. Thank you.

I have had this made with chicken and with duck at restaurants. This was my first time trying this at home. I made your version with the beef and I was nervous about the extended browning but I stuck with it and was very happy with the result

I think I messed up a little.. I used a bit more ground beef than you did and thus I think the other flavors were a little "light" - I should have doubled the fish sauce, Thai Chilies, and garlic etc...

The issues were entirely on my side.. your recipe/instructions were spot on.. though, I asked my wife to do the eggs and she struggled to get the nice shape you did...they tasted fine but it was not quite as pretty as yours - I chalk that up to our experience level as this was a totally different egg frying technique than we ever tried before.

3a8082e126