Of Random Things #150: Gai Pad Krapow

As mentioned in my previous blog entry, here comes my blog post on Gai Pad Krapow. Gai Pad Krapow is literally known as Thai Basil Chicken in English. It is one of the common dishes found in Bangkok.

I had been craving for Thai Basil Chicken for days. So, I decided to whip the dish myself instead of having it at a local Thai restaurant in town. The last one I had was at THAI BOAT NOODLE which was rather salty for my liking despite that it went well with the white rice.

I had previously attempted Thai Basil Chicken but the recipes I found online were overly seasoned. Most of the recipes which I had previously attempted were overly salty for my liking. Lesson learnt and I decided to gauge the amount of seasoning myself this time round by halving the main ingredients.

The outcome was a lot better and satisfactory as compared to my previous attempts despite that my colleagues commented that it would be nicer with lesser basil leaves and adding lemongrass stalk and some pounded ginger.

Without further ado, let me show you how my Gai Pad Krapow turned out to be!

Gai Pad Krapow (adapted from The Woks of Life)

Ingredients:

• 3 -4 tbsp cooking oil
• 3 Thai bird or Holland chilies, de-seeded and thinly sliced *1 red chili*
• 3 shallots, thinly sliced
• 5 cloves garlic, sliced *roasted garlic* 
• 1 pound ground chicken *about 1kg*
• 2 tsp sugar or honey *1 tsp raw sugar*
• 2 tbsp soy sauce *dark soy sauce*
• 1 tbsp fish sauce *3/4 tbsp*
• 1/3 cup low sodium chicken broth or water *hot water*
• 1 bunch holy or Thai basil leaves *Thai basil leaves*

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, mix together soy sauce, sugar and fish sauce. Set aside.
2. In a wok over high heat, add the cooking oil, shallots, garlic and chilies. Fry for about a minute or two until they are slightly browned.
3. Add the ground chicken and stir fry for a minute or two and breaking up the chicken into smaller bits.
4. Add in the soy sauce mixture and stir fry for another minute.
5. Deglaze the wok with hot water.
6. Add in basil leaves and stir fry until wilted.
7. Dish up and serve.

Gai Pad Krapow is mostly seen with a sunny side up on the top of the dish. As I cooked the dish early in the morning to bring to workplace for lunch, I decided not to do the sunny side up. I had previously attempted Gai Pad Krapow with thinly sliced chicken breast but the outcome wasn’t that great due to the texture of the meat.