Pad Kra Pao (ผัดกระเพราใส่ถั่วฝักยาว) is a very popular dish for local Thais. When people don’t know what to order, they just order Kra Pao! This dish is quick and delicious. Pad means fried and Kra Pao is the Thai name of Holy basil that is one of the main ingredients. Some vendors like adding Yardlong beans to this dish too so we will teach you how to cook this dish like they do on the street.
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Prep time: 3 mins
Cook time: 5 mins
Total time: 8 mins
Ingredients
1/2 cup of yardlong beans, cut into 1 inch long pieces
100 g pork, chicken or other meat of your choice
1 cup holy basil leaves
3 garlic cloves, peeled
3 red chilies
1 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
1 tablespoon Fish Sauce
½ tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons oil for frying
Instructions
1. Mix water, sugar, fish sauce, and oyster sauce together and set aside.
2. If you have a mortar and pestle, pound garlic and chilies together. Otherwise, you can chop them or sliced thinly.
3. Heat a non-stick saucepan over high heat and add the oil. When the oil is hot, add chilies and garlic and stir-fry till fragrant, about 10 seconds.
4. Add pork and stir continuously for few minutes. When it is starting to look like cooked, add sauce mix then stir-fry till the sauce coats the meat and vegetables evenly. If it is too dry, you can add a small splash of water.
5. Add basil leaves and yardlong beans and stir-fry for few more seconds until wilted, then turn off the heat immediately.
6. Serve over rice topped with a Thai-style crispy fried egg.
Tips
- You can use Thai sweet basil instead of holy basil. To get a recipe click: Thai Sweet Basil Stir-Fry (Pad Horapa) : ผัดโหระพา
- Alternatively you can cook easy Pad Kra Pao without yardlong beans. To get a recipe click: Pad Kra Pao - Holy Basil Stir-Fry