Short writeup today. Just got back from California a couple days ago and haven’t had much chance to breath since. More on that soon.
Anyway, I’ve always been interested in a lot of the quick and simple ethnic foods and this recipe was no exception. Normally, I’ve had this made with ground chicken or ground pork, but since I had some chicken thighs to use, I figured minced (to the best of my limited ability) would be enough.
The dish itself is known for having an intense set of flavors, with fish sauce mixed with sugar and basil providing most of the punch. Ended up being not as flavorful as I’ve had, but I attribute that more to needing a little more sauce and perhaps me not getting the proportions entirely correct.
Recipe compiled from numerous sources and from word of mouth. Original I worked with is at Serious Eats. I somewhat doubled the recipe to use all of the chicken I had.
Minced Chicken with Thai Basil over Rice (Pad Kra Pow)
Serves 4
Time 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 3 tbsp canola oil
- 4-5 red bird’s eye chilies
- 1 large shallot, minced
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ red bell pepper (or a small one), chopped
- ½ yellow onion, chopped
- 1/3 lb green beans, ends removed
- 1 – 1.5lb pound ground chicken
- 6 tbsp fish sauce
- 6 tsp sugar
- A handful of thai basil leaves
- Fried eggs (optional)
Method:
1. Heat oil in wok under high heat. Add chilies, shallots, and garlic and stir fry until golden and fragrant, 30-45 seconds.
2. Add green beans, bell pepper, and onion, stir fry for about 5 minutes
3. Add ground chicken, stir fry for another 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
4. Add fish sauce and sugar, mix well, adjust as needed for your tastes.
5. Reduce heat to medium and add basil leaves. Stir fry until leaves are wilted.
6. Serve with rice. Add a fried egg on top (optional)
[...] a couple things I’ve cooked up lately today. The first is Pad Kra Pow – Thai Basil Chicken, I posted this originally back in April but had another couple go-arounds to try to get it tastier. [...]
Please add green beans to the recipe list. We started making this after visiting the store, and we hadn’t picked up green beans.
Hmm, can’t imagine why I forgot. I have since changed what I do with this recipe (and it’s my mistake that I haven’t posted it either) and actually did take out the green beans (I usually steam/boil a vegetable on the side instead) as I feel like the green beans soak up too much of the sauce. Sorry about that!