Recipe

Asia → 🇹🇭 Thailand → Bangkok (Central)
Pad Krapow Gai (Holy Basil Chicken)
Thai · easy · serves 2
prep 15 min · cook 10 min
~1076 cal · 62g protein · 168g carbs · 14g fat (estimated, per serving)
🍽️
Holy basil chicken stir-fry over jasmine rice with a crispy fried egg
🇹🇭 Bangkok (Central)
Ask a Bangkok office worker what to order when you can't decide, and the answer is pad krapow — it's the city's unofficial default lunch. The dish lives and dies by holy basil (bai krapow), whose peppery, clove-like heat regular sweet basil only approximates.
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Ingredients
Serves 2 —
•
12 oz ground chicken
•
3–6, to your courage Thai bird chilies
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5 cloves garlic
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1.5 tbsp fish sauce
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1 tbsp oyster sauce
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1 tbsp soy sauce
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1 tsp sugar
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1.5 cups, packed holy basil leaves (or Thai basil)
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2 eggs, for frying
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2 cups jasmine rice, cooked
Instructions
1
Pound the chilies and garlic to a rough paste in a mortar (or mince finely together).
2
Get a wok ripping hot with 2 tbsp oil. Fry the eggs first until the edges are lacy and crisp; set aside.
3
Stir-fry the chili-garlic paste 20 seconds, then add the chicken (or tofu), breaking it up and letting it sear, 3–4 minutes.
4
Add fish sauce, oyster sauce, soy, and sugar with a splash of water; toss 1 minute.
5
Kill the heat, fold in the basil until just wilted, and serve over rice with the crispy egg on top.
Bangkok street-stall standard.
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🌏 While it simmers — know your destination
📍
Bangkok (Central). Canal-side woks firing basil and chili into the night.
🗺️
Thailand. The balance of sweet, sour, salty, and spicy in every bite.
🌍
Asia. From street-cart woks to slow monastery kitchens.
The story behind this dish is up top — worth a read while the pot works.
👩‍🍳
Richard Moore & Kelsey Tucker
Recipes cooked, tested, and researched by the creators of Spin the Globe. How we build our recipes →
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