This pad kra pao (pork & holy basil-stir-fry) features a key ingredient: holy basil! With jasmine rice, it’s perfection. And it only takes minutes to make.
Thai Basil Vs. Holy Basil
Okay, about to get real serious about basil right now.
We’ve published several recipes on this blog that involve Thai basil, like this 10-Minute Chicken & Basil Stir-fry and this Thai Basil Beef. In said recipes, we used what our local Asian grocery store labels as, “Thai Basil,” which is actually a variety of cinnamon basil. This is also the kind of basil most commonly used in Thai restaurants here in the States, I believe.
That said, a few commenters on those recipes felt very passionately about our basil usage, suggesting—demanding—that we use holy basil in our recipes. The translation of “Pad Kra Pao,” is apparently “holy basil stir-fry,” so you can’t (technically) make the dish without this key ingredient.
It’s elusive, though. We scoured the Asian markets in our area for holy basil, but could never find it. Finally, we decided to take our only remaining course of action, just to see what all the fuss was about. We bought a packet of seeds on the Internet, stuck ’em in our backyard garden, and waited.
After a few weeks, the little holy basil plants started popping out of the ground:
As the summer wore on, our holy basil crop grew and grew––and we now have a pretty serious holy basil patch in our yard––enough to make endless plates of pad kra pao (Thai holy basil) stir-fry. The picture below is a bit old––we now probably have quadruple the amount you see there).
When I started cooking with it, I finally knew why people had such strong feelings about using it in this Pork Pad Kra Pao stir fry dish. It has a very particular flavor. It’s almost licorice-like, or perhaps fennel-like.
In any case, I was a fan. That said, if you’re not into the idea of growing this uncommon (here in ‘Murica, anyway) variety of basil in order to get your hands on some, I maintain that using cinnamon basil or even regular sweet basil is better than having no stir-fry at all!
Ok, on to the pad kra pao stir fry recipe. :)
Pad Kra Pao Recipe Instructions
In a wok over medium high heat, add the oil, shallots and garlic, and fry for 3 minutes.
Add the chilies and cook for another minute.
Crank up the heat to high, and add the ground pork, breaking it up into small bits and allowing it to crisp up.
Add the sugar, fish sauce, thin/light soy sauce, ddark soy sauce, and oyster sauce. Stir-fry for another minute and deglaze the pan with the broth or water. Because your pan is over high heat, the liquid should cook off very quickly.
Add the holy basil leaves, and stir-fry until wilted.
Serve this Pork Pad Kra Pao(Holy Basil Stir-fry) over rice!
I think we could have named this Pork & Holy Basil Stir-fry a 10 minute Pork Pad Kra Pao stir fry because it was that quick and easy!
Pork & Holy Basil Stir-fry (Pad Kra Pao)
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 shallots (thinly sliced)
- 7 cloves garlic (sliced)
- 3 Thai bird or holland chilies (de-seeded, if desired, and thinly sliced)
- 1 pound ground pork (450g)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon thin/light soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
- ⅓ cup low sodium chicken broth or water
- holy basil leaves (about 1 1/2 cups packed)
Instructions
- In a wok over medium high heat, add the oil, shallots and garlic, and fry for 3 minutes. Add the chilies and cook for another minute. Crank up the heat to high, and add the ground pork, breaking it up into small bits and allowing it to crisp up.
- Add the sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and oyster sauce. Stir-fry for another minute and deglaze the pan with the broth or water. Because your pan is over high heat, the liquid should cook off very quickly. Add the basil, and stir-fry until wilted. Serve over rice.
nutrition facts
Wow. Never tried this before but stumbled across the recipe by mistake. It’s wonderful… I want to eat it everyday
Thanks so much Kathryn!
My husband said this dish was as good as anything he’s had at any Thai restaurant. High praise from a critical foodie. Definitely pinning and repeating. Thank you!
Also wanted to add that I used brown sugar and deglaze the pan with white wine. A good recipe is a good recipe though.
You’re very welcome!
Most authentic Krapow recipe i’ve tried yet, been using this for 3 years now and the wife loves it
Thank you Kenward!!
My partner spent 10 years in Thailand and I wanted to re-create his favourite dish – this recipe was perfect. thank you.
You’re welcome!
I will give my 6 stars to this recipe. I made this more than 10 times. this is now my classic to save recipe. even planning to start a small business with this.
Thank you very much for sharing, the sauce is perfect for 500gms of pork.
I will save this forever. Another tip for readers, I mix the sauce ingredients a night before so it is easy just to pour everything and the taste is well mix. Again, thank you very much for sharing this!
You’re welcome, Gus! Love the idea of mixing the sauce the night before.
Really nice take on one of my favorite meals! Using Thai peppers 🌶 really adds some heat and smokiness! Thank you!
You’re welcome, Mike!
One of my favourite dishes – across all cuisines . Easy recipe and tasty too. Used kecap manis as I didn’t have oyster sauce . Added some Shaoxin wine as I had it handy. This recipe is a keeper. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Divya!
This is one of my favorite Thai dish and didn’t realize it is so easy to make. THANK YOU! The only slight problems are the shallots keep making me tear up like onions and it is a tad salty. Next time i will reduce the soya sauce a bit. Any suggestion on how to slice shallots without tears? Thank you again!
You’re welcome! My secret to cutting shallots and onions is literally to wear a pair of swim goggles. We keep them in the kitchen drawer for just that purpose, especially around Thanksgiving, when we have tons of onions to go through!
You would never see this in Thailand served without a Crispy Fried Egg, but other than that this recipe is spot on! So glad you use Holy Basil like it should be! I’ve seen many websites use Italian Basil, Sweet Basil or Coriander as a replacement which is flat out wrong :P
Thanks Sam