Kow pad kraprow moo (Rice topped with stir-fried pork and holy basil)

This menu is the Thai’s favourite dish. In Thai, “kow” mean rice and “pad” means stir-fry, “kraprow” is holy basil and “moo” means pork. Altogether, this dish is a stir-fry pork with fragrant holy basil served with stream rice and fried egg.

The feature of this dish is the combination of hot and spicy, fragrant and delicious.

Note: Alternatively, if you can’t find the Thai holy basil you can use Thai sweet basil or regular Italian basil.

Figure 1: Kow pad kraprow moo.

Ingredients

-         6 garlic cloves, peeled

-         6 bird’s eye chillies

-         1 large red chilli, cut into chunks

-         A pinch of sea salt

-         1 tablespoon sweet soy sauce

-         1 tablespoon light soy sauce

-         1 tablespoon fish sauce

-         1–2 tablespoons of water

-         A pinch of sugar

-         2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

-         300g pork, minced or roughly hand -chopped

-         100g green beans, topped, tailed and cut into 1cm pieces

-         5-7 large holy basil leaves – the more the merrier

Extra: Fried egg and slide of cucumber can be added for better test and combination.

A stir-fried pork and holy basil

-         In a pestle and mortar, pound the garlic, chillies and salt together into a rough paste, and set aside.

-         Heat the oil in a wok set over medium heat.

-         When the oil is hot, add the chilli and garlic paste and stir-fry for a few seconds.

-         Stir-fry for a further minute, then add the beans. Keep stirring until the pork is heated through.

-         At the last minute, add the basil leaves, stir for 20 seconds, then take off the heat and serve hot with steamed rice, fried egg and slices of cucumber.