Chicken Pad Kra Pao!

Yes, I'm doing it - 2 posts in as many days!! "What is this?!" you may ask? Well, I think I'm on a bit of a roll :)

And, I figured that there's no point putting-off this post till later because I'll have to write about my Breakfast Club Outing Numero Tres soon, and I can't have this in the way!

Oh and also, I'm a little bit VERY kinda proud about how my pad kra pao turned out! It tasted pretty authentic too if I do say so myself. See, I'm actually 1/16th Thai (my great-great grandma was Thai), so maybe it's the teeny bit of Thai blood in me that made me so naturally good at producing this dish... *coughselfpraisecough*

The reason why I chose to make this dish was because I have sweet basil growing in my little herb corner. True, it's sweet basil and not Thai basil, but hey, as they say: If life gives you lemons, make lemonade! My herb corner gave me sweet basil, so I made pad kra pao with sweet basil. True story. I was a little worried that the flavour of the basil wouldn't be strong enough to cut through the fish sauce and chilli, but I was pleasantly surprised.

So here's what I did:

Pad Kra Pao (Minced Chicken Stir-fried with Basil)

• Minced chicken (surprise!) - I used one breast and one thigh, so roughly 350g
• 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 medium red onion, finely sliced (or diced)
• 1 red chilli, de-seeded and chopped finely (I like it a little spicy, so I left some seeds in...)
  **Warning** DON'T scratch/rub your eyes, nose, or any other body part after slicing the chilli... even if you've washed your hands, it will still sting. I learned the hard way. Not fun.
• A few sprigs of basil, should be Thai basil, but I used sweet basil (about 10-15 leaves)
• 2 stalks of spring onion, sliced finely - not traditionally included in the dish, but I had some leftover so I just threw it in (literally)
• 2-3 tablespoons of light soy sauce (depends on how salty you like your food to be)
• 2 tablespoons of fish sauce
• 3 tablespoons of brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil for frying
• Pinch of pepper (I didn't add any pepper in this version, but I will next time!)

So to start, just heat the oil up in a frying pan and, over a medium fire, fry the garlic, onion and chilli until fragrant and browning (not burning!).

Then add the minced chicken, fish sauce and soy sauce and stir vigorously (at this point, my arm started to ache...), once the chicken is cooked (i.e. it doesn't look like raw meat), add the spring onions and basil and keep stirring until most of the liquid in the pan evaporates. MOST of the liquid, not all of it. About 4/5 of the liquid should evaporate, in my opinion.

Then just serve it with some steamed jasmine rice and a fried egg! :) You can also make this dish with minced pork. But I prefer chicken.

Nommerssss!

Peace out (homies).