Pad Kra Pao Made Easy
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One of my all-time Thai favorites is Pad Kra Pao (ผัดกะเพราไก่, meaning, stir-fried holy basil), or Thai Basil Beef. Think P.F. Chang’s lettuce wraps, but more authentic. It also happens to be fairly low-carb healthy, and is much easier to whip up than the more complex curries.
I made it yesterday from everyday pantry ingredients. Lots of subbing.
Instead of ground beef, I went with ground turkey. Honey for sugar. Italian basil for Thai basil. One shallot instead of two. Red Thai chiles straight from frozen (serrano would be good, I think). A lot more than eight garlic cloves.
The only thing I’d do differently is whisk all the wet ingredients together before pouring over the 80 percent cooked ground meat and translucent aromatics.
Remember to use a potato masher to split up the ground meat.
You can eat this with brown or white rice, cauliflower rice, eggs, or in a butter lettuce wrap. I did all three. The combination of soy, dark soy, oyster and fish sauce, and 3/4 tablespoon of honey flavored the ground meat filling perfectly.
If you didn’t have dark soy, you could get away with just regular. Definitely taste as you go.
I had a wok, but you could make this easily in a skillet.
