Thai in 20 Minutes

By David Hu

Like most people, I love Thai food.  And I’m lucky enough to have a girlfriend from Thailand to show me how to cook it myself.

Kra Prao, a stir-fried mixture of ground meat, chiles and fresh basil leaves, is my favorite. I learned to make it from Lynn’s mom, who will be checking out this video from Thailand to see if I’ve cooked in correctly, so the pressure is on! 

This is a very versatile dish with some great variations.

• You can add sliced onion when you stir-fry.  It’s not authentic, but it adds sweetness.
• You can add green onions,  cut in 2-inch lengths for color.
• Instead of ground pork, you can use shrimp, clams, ground beef, ground chicken or turkey, or even drained canned tuna.
• You can top each serving with a sunny-side up egg; break the yolk when you start eating to let the yolk drizzle into the Kra Prao to create creamy goodness.

Kra Prao
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Thai bird’s eye chiles, seeded and minced
1 pound ground pork
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons fish sauce
2 cups Thai basil leaves, lightly packed
Hot rice

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat.  Add garlic and chiles and stir just until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Do not burn garlic.  Add ground pork, stir and cook until browned, about 2 minutes.  Add sugar and fish sauce and stir, then add basil and cook, stirring, just until basil wilts, about 2 minutes more.  Serve on hot rice.  Makes 2 generous servings.

“Aroi mak” – delicious!

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Comments

[Sandy]

I have made this recipe before and I really like it. But last night, I improvised because I didn't have all the ingredients. I had just 1/2 pound of ground pork so I diced 1 package of firm tofu, fried it in oil first, then stirred it in after the seasonings were added. I also didn't have basil so I substituted fresh mint. It was good!