WHAT IS KAO PAD KRAPOW  GAI

Kao Pad Kra Pow Gai Kao Pad means stir-fry, Kra Pow is Holy Basil and Gai means chicken.  It’s a dish of rice served with stir-fry of chicken with Thai Basil.

Throwing back a little bit of memory, I literally lived on this dish when I worked in Bangkok.  Just writing this recipe transports me back the lovely memory of my Bangkok days.   I had this dish  almost every lunchtime, silly, really to be doing that when you live in a country with so many varieties of great food, but this really  is my favorite.

I often miss this dish and I would make it once in a while.  This dish is so simple to make and takes less than 30 minurtes to prepare so why not make it yourself

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE KAO PAD KRA POW GAI

150gr of chicken  – minced in a food processor  or coarsely ground

2- 3 pcs of small red chili –  or more if you want more heat,  coarsely ground

2 cloves of garlic  –  coarsely ground

½ to 1 cup of long beans or snake beans– washed well and cut into approx. 4cm shorts.  You can use French beans as an alternative you just want to have crunch in your kra pow

1 tbs of  oyster sauce

2 tbs of soy sauce

1 tbs of fish sauce

1tbs of sweet soy sauce –  you can omit this if you don’t have soy sauce, you can add 1/2 tsp sugar and 2 tbs of water  for substitute

3tbs of Thai Basil leaves – washed & rinsed

2 tbs of vegetable  oil

Salt & pepper to taste

HOW TO MAKE KAO PAD KRA POW GAI

The sauce: in a bowl mix oyster sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce soy sauce  (or water and sugar). Set aside

• Chili mixture: Using mortar and pestle grind chili, garlic just coarsely, you don’t need smooth consistency for this.
• Heat oil in a wok over medium high-heat, in goes chili mixture, stir fry until fragrant, add in the chicken stir fry for 2 -5  minutes, add in the sauce continue stir frying for further 2 – 4 minutes, once the chicken is cooked, it shouldn’t take too long to cook chicken especially when minced/grounded like this,Taste it, add salt& pepper or sugar if necessary toss in the beans turn off the heat, bear in mind you want the beans to still have its crunch so toss in the beans just before you finish cooking. Stir-fry  it a little bit longer if you want the beans wilted further, otherwise heat off now, lastly add Thai basil leaves, and your dish is  ready.  The heat from the chicken will help wilt the basil

Thai Kao Pad Krapow is best to serve with fresh steamed rice and fried egg.