Global Grub: Thai Basil Chicken (Gai Pad Krapow)

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Thai Basil Chicken (Gai Pad Krapow)

It's always nice when you eat a dish in a restaurant and think "I could make this at home", and then you go home and try to make it and it's a dismal failure. Sometimes a homemade meal is a shell of its former glory, when you previously paid for a professional to make it for you. But every once in a while, you make something at home that could pass for restaurant food, if only you had shoved it into a plastic take-out container before serving yourself. And this was one of those moments.

I can't tell you how many times I've ordered pad krapow. I believe the dish literally translates as stir-fried (pad) basil (krapow) with chicken (gai), which leaves very little mystery. It is typically served in a large bowl, and consists of ground chicken, a ton of basil, and sometimes a couple of vegetables. I poked around online until I found one that sounded good, then modified it slightly to include a couple of produce items I wanted to use. The result was pretty much identical to the restaurant, although significantly cheaper, and hopefully more healthy. Apparently, the secret to this dish is a ton of fish sauce, although I'm learning more and more that this is the secret to pretty much all Thai cooking.

I've made a few dishes using Thai basil before, but have perhaps skipped over its importance. Thai Basil Chicken is not "Basil Chicken" with Thai flavoring; it is chicken that has been blessed by the infusion of Thai basil. Here's what this looks like:

Thai basil plant, from my garden. Money well spent - I put this stuff in everything!

Notice that the leaves are not as large as those of regular basil. I'm no botanist, but this is clearly not the same plant, and shouldn't be confused as such. You can also probably get away with holy basil, which has more of a purple-colored leaf, and which probably tastes more like licorice than the Thai varietal.

Other than that, there are no mysteries to the ingredients. I ground my own chicken, which is totally unnecessary unless you happen to only have whole chicken breasts and a grinder. But other than that, this dish should come together very quickly and easily.

Pad Krapow Gai (Thai Basil Chicken)

Adapted from seriouseats.com

Prep time: about 10 minutes
Cook time: about 8 minutes

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large shallot, finely sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 birds eye chiles or 1 serrano chile
1/3 pound green beans, trimmed, chopped in 1¼-inch lengths
1 red bell pepper, sliced into ¼” strips
1/2 pound ground chicken
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
Thai hot sauce, to taste
1 bunch basil, leaves only

Heat the oil over high heat in a wok. Once hot, add the aromatics - chiles, shallots, and garlic - and stir-fry for about 30 seconds. Add the green beans and bell pepper and stir-fry until cooked but still crisp, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the ground chicken, breaking up with your spatula. Stir-fry until chicken is cooked through, but don't overcook or you will wring out all of the moisture and the dish won't taste right. Just cook until the chicken's no longer pink, and you feel comfortable with its level of doneness.

Add the fish sauce and sugar, and stir to distribute. Season with additional fish sauce or sugar to taste. Remove from heat, and add the basil leaves, stirring until wilted. Serve with jasmine rice, nam pla prik (Thai chile sauce, basically more fish sauce with lime juice and chiles in it) if desired, or lime wedges.

Grind the chicken. If you find yourself doing this step, you probably need better hobbies.

All of the prepared ingredients, ready to go. Having everything at the ready makes cooking much easier. This is for a double batch recipe, cooked half at a time.