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
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon thin/light soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
• 1/3 cup chicken broth
• holy basil leaves (about 1 1/2 cups packed)

Instructions #

Cook rice: Get your rice cooker going with a good 4 servings of white jasmine rice. That takes about 30 minutes.

Fry the eggs: Having a rapidly fried, sunny-side up egg is the best way to go. Put about 1/4 oil into a pan over a medium-hight heat. Fry one or two eggs at a time, looking for a crispy edge and runny yolk. Remove and let rest on some parchment paper until you’re ready to serve.

Cook the aromats: In a wok (or a big pan) over medium high heat, add the oil, shallots and garlic, and fry for 3 minutes. Add the chilies and cook for another minute.

Cook the pork: Crank up the heat to high, and add the ground pork, breaking it up into small bits and allowing it to crisp up.

Stir fry: 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. Add a fried egg on top.

Notes #

Storage: Put this in a sealed container for up to 3 days.

Variations: If you can’t get Thai Holy Basil, it’s OK to use regular basil instead. It definitely tastes different, but I’d rather eat the dish and not cook it because I don’t have the right basil.

Tips:

• I can’t get my wimpy gas stove to rage like a wok so I usually don’t need to add the chicken stock to deglaze the pan.
• Wear gloves to slice peppers because it makes my fingertips feel spicy!