Thai sweet basil or Horapa (โหระพา) is one of many types of basil. The taste of horapa is stronger than holy basil which is called Kra Pao in Thai. Holy basil has a sweet fragrance, and Horapa has spicier aroma. Both types of basil can be cooked or served raw in similar styles. Thai basil is used in Eastern style cooking much more often. Today we will show you how we cook easy Thai sweet basil stir-fry.
Learn Cooking Thai Food with us!
Prep time: 3 mins
Cook time: 5 mins
Total time: 8 mins
Ingredients
200 g pork
1 cup sweet basil leaves
4-5 small garlic cloves, peeled
3-4 chilies
1 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
1 tablespoon Fish Sauce
½ tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons oil for frying
Instructions
1. If you have a mortar and pestle, pound garlic and chilies together. Otherwise, you can chop them or sliced thinly.
2. Heat a non-stick saucepan over high heat and add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the chilies and garlic and stir-fry till fragrant, about 7-10 seconds.
3. Add pork and stir continuously for few minutes. When it is starting to look like cooked, add water, sugar, fish sauce, and oyster sauce and stir-fry till the sauce coats the meat evenly. If it is too dry, you can add a small splash of water.
4. Add sweet basil leaves and stir-fry few seconds until wilted, then turn off the heat immediately.
5. Serve over rice topped with a Thai-style crispy fried egg.
Tips
- You can use holy basil instead of Thai sweet basil. To get a recipe click: Pad Kra Pao - Holy Basil Stir-Fry.
- Alternatively you can cut yardlong beans into 1 inch long pieces and toss them after adding the sauce. To get a recipe click: Pad Kra Pao Tua Fak Yaw (Holy Basil Stir-Fry with Yardlong beans).
