Thai Holy Basil Beef Stir Fry
Thai Holy Basil Beef Stir Fry, is a dish that I got to experience in person in Phuket, Thailand. In Thailand it is called, Pad Kra Pao and it was absolutely delicious. The spice from the Thai chili peppers, the umami from the fish sauce, and richness from the perfectly runny egg yolk, and the acid from the Prik Nam Pla (we will get to that!) made this dish something we ordered as many times as possible. Had it not been for the out of this world mangos in Thailand, this dish would’ve stole the show when it came to the food.
Thailand is one of the most incredible places I have ever been, and it is important to say thank you for the hundredth time to my friend Mike for inviting me on this adventure with him. The things we experienced while we were there will live with me forever. The beaches, the people, the views, the food, the weather, the wild-life, and the spectacle that is Bangkok is truly a place, if you are afforded the opportunity, you should take the time to visit.
In Phuket, this dish was made with pork but you can use chicken or beef just as easily. Because pork is a bit fatty, you would need to add a bit of fat if using chicken, or a fattier ground beef like we used in this recipe.
The recipe is really easy to make, and even easier to substitute whatever you can’t find in whatever country you are in. We had a bunch of fresh basil and peppers in our garden so instead of using Thai basil and Thai chili peppers we used Italian basil and spicy peppers from our garden (not going to lie, I have no clue what these peppers are but they are super spicy!). I also added some green beans from the garden, and some red onion which I haven’t seen in too many other recipes. Use what you have, in the end it is a stir fry so there is some flexibility to not have to be exactly authentic.
To start this recipe, it helps to make the Prik Nam Pla. It was a sauce that was served on the side that helps to add more spice, salt, and umami. You just combine fish sauce, lime juice, thinly sliced Thai chili pepper, and garlic. Making it in advance lets the ingredients marry for a bit.. it tastes better after an hour or so so feel free to make it ahead of time.
If you start cooking the rice when you start cooking the beef, they should finish within a few minutes of each other. The rice I always use more than necessary because left over rice is always nice to have. My rule for rice is two cups rice to three cups of water. Bring it to a boil, lower the heat to lower and cover for fifteen minutes. After fifteen minutes, turn off the heat and remove the pot from the heat but leave it covered for another five minutes. After five minutes remove the lid and fold salted butter through it. I’m not in the unsalted butter fan club but if you are then use it and add some salt to taste.
Because I used green beans in my recipe, I started by sautéing, in a hot cast iron pan, onions, peppers, garlic, and green beans. Have all of these ingredients chopped up ahead of time. It seems that in Thailand they used a mortar and pestle to grind up the peppers and garlic together, that is the method I used and it came out great. Regardless, have everything prepped and ready so you can move quickly.
Once the peppers and green beans have cooked for a few minutes I removed them from the pan and placed them in a bowl and covered them, as if to steam them a bit while cooking the beef.
Get the cast iron pan hot enough to smoke, then add oil and ground beef to the pan allowed it to sear a bit and get some good color to it. Once the beef is cooked, add the pepper bowl ingredients back to the pan, beef stock, fish sauce, and black pepper. Lower the heat once you have a simmer, and let it cook for about five more minutes before removing it from the heat. Let it rest for about five minutes and then fold in the basil, allowing it to wilt. Do not add the basil when it is too hot otherwise it’ll turn black and lose an important aspect of this dish.
Now, that the rice and beef are done. Fry up as many eggs as you have mouths to feed. In Thailand, the egg was served sunny side up but the whites were really crispy while the yolk was very soft and runny. My family prefers over easy, as long as you have a runny egg yolk you can cook it however you want. The richness of the yolk will add so much to this dish so take care to not over cook your eggs!
To plate, portion out the rice on the plate then add the beef alongside the rice. Add the egg to the top, and spoon a bit of the Prik Nam Pla sauce over top of the egg.
This dish is spicy, it is meant to be that way. With that being said, you can make it as spicy as you want by using less or more chili peppers. The version in this recipe was spicy but tolerable, even my young kids ate it.. they just needed a lot of water and a bit of sour cream!
I hope you love this dish as much as I do, have fun trying new ways to improve it and make it yours!
Thai Holy Basil Beef Stir Fry
Ingredients
Prik Nam Pla
- 2 tbsp Fish Sauce
- 2 tbsp Lime Juice
- 1 clove Garlic minced
- 1 Thai Chili Pepper thinly sliced
Rice
- 2 cups Jasmine Rice
- 3 cups Water
- 2 tbsp Salted Butter
Thai Holy Basil Beef Stir Fry
- 1 lb Ground Beef 80/20
- 2 whole Thai Chili Peppers
- 3 whole Mild chili peppers (serrano or more mild)
- 8 cloves Garlic
- 1/4 whole Diced Onion
- 8-10 whole String Beans Cut into 1/4" pieces
- 1 tsp Black Pepper
- 2 tbsp Fish Sauce
- 3/4 cup Beef Broth or 3/4c water with 1tsp beef base
- 20 whole Basil Leaves
Eggs
- 4 whole Sunny Side Up Fried Eggs
Instructions
Prik Nam Pla
- Combine all ingredients and allow to marinate for at least one hour.
Jasmine Rice
- Combine rice and water in a pot and bring the pot to a boil over high heat. Once boiling lower the heat to low and cover with a lid. Continue to cook for fifteen minutes.
- After fifteen minutes, turn off the heat and remove the pot from the heat but leave covered for an additional five minutes.
- After five minutes, remove the lid and fluff and fold butter through the rice.
Thai Holy Basil Beef Stir Fry
- With a mortar and pestle grind the peppers and garlic together or chop until they are minced.
- Heat a cast iron pan or wok over high until it is smoking hot.
- Add a bit of oil to the pan then add the peppers, garlic, onions, and green beans to the pan and sauté for a few minutes.
- Remove the pan ingredients into a bowl and cover to steam.
- Bring the cast iron pan back up to smoking then add a touch more oil and the ground beef. Sear the beef until you have a crispy and brown crust, while continuously breaking the meat up into small pieces until minced.
- Lower heat to medium and add fish sauce, black pepper, and beef stock. Simmer for a few minutes and then remove from the heat.
- After about 5 minutes add the basil to the pan and fold it through, allowing the basil to wilt.
Fried Eggs
- Heat a cast iron skillet over high heat until it very hot.
- Add oil to the pan and crack four eggs into the pan.
- Cook the eggs until they have a crispy egg white and runny yolk then remove from the heat.
Plating
- Add rice to the dish then spoon the stir fry ingredients alongside it. Agg an egg over top then drizzle over a bit of the Prik Nam Pla.
Notes
