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A dish with pad gaprao, a fork and spoon on a grey wooden tablecloth with blue linens and lettuce seen in the background.

Old-School Pad Gaprao

A traditional recipe for a beloved Thai street food dish.
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Ingredients

  • 2 to 3 Thai chilies or as many as you can handle
  • ⅓ cup chopped mild red peppers
  • 7 cloves garlic
  • 4 eggs optional – see note #1
  • oil for frying eggs optional – see note #1
  • 2 to 3 tbsp neutral oil
  • 1 pound lean ground pork
  • 2 tbsp fish sauce
  • 2 tsp granulated sugar
  • 1½ cups holy basil or Italian basil leaves see note #2
  • jasmine rice for serving

Instructions
 

  • Using a mortar and pestle, pound the Thai chilies until fine, then add the mild red peppers and garlic and pound into a rough paste.
  • If you’re making fried eggs, make them now. In a small nonstick frying pan, heat about ⅓ inch (8 mm) of oil over medium-high heat. Test the temperature of the oil by adding a little piece of vegetable scrap, like the garlic or pepper, and it should bubble excitedly right away. Once the oil is hot, add 1 egg. The white should bubble up right away. Using a spoon to occasionally baste the top of the egg with oil to help it cook faster, cook for about 1 minute for a runny yolk, or 2 minutes for a set yolk. You want the white crispy and browned, so if it’s not browning, turn up the heat. Remove the egg from the pan and drain on paper towel; repeat with the remaining eggs.
  • Place a wok on medium heat, then add the oil and garlic-chili paste. Stir for about 2 minutes, until the smallest bits of garlic start to turn golden.
  • Turn the heat up to high, add the ground pork, then quickly toss to mix with the garlic-chili paste. Add the fish sauce and sugar, and keep tossing and breaking up the pork until it is fully cooked.
  • Turn off the heat, then add the holy basil and cook just until wilted. Taste and adjust the seasoning with fish sauce and sugar as needed.
  • Plate and serve with jasmine rice. If serving as a one-dish meal, place the rice on a plate, spoon the pork over it, and top everything with the fried egg.

Notes

Pad gaprao is typically paired with a fried egg when served as a one-dish meal. If serving as part of a multi-dish Thai meal, you can omit the egg.

Don't have holy basil?

Use Italian basil is the best substitute.

Use pork shoulder for stir-fries.

Most people in North America use pork shoulder (aka pork butt ) for braising and stewing. But I’m advocating for this cut to be used for stir-frying because it is so much more flavorful than the leaner cuts people are generally tempted to use. It’s got a bit more chew, but when sliced thinly against the grain and not overcooked, it’s such a satisfying texture, and the abundance of fat ensures that it’s never dry.