Thai Holy Basil Chicken | Pad Kaprao Gai

So you go to a Thai restaurant and feel overwhelmed by the choices available? Great, ’cause we get that too!

Whenever I go to a Thai dtam sang (made to order) place or cart with my friends, there’s always that one person, sometimes myself, who can’t decide what to eat and ends up ordering pad kraprao. Ask any of your Thai friends and you’ll be surprised to know that this holy delicious dish is known among Thai people as the dish to go for when we’re being annoyingly indecisive in a restaurant and everyone else is waiting for us to, for goodness’ sake, order.

But guess what, you don’t have to be like us. If you don’t live in Thailand and are going to treat yourself to a Thai restaurant, get something that’s more difficult for you to prepare yourself and keep the Thai holy basil stir-fry something you make at home. It’s one of the most basic Thai dishes to make and when you make it yourself, you can have it as spicy or garlicky as you want. (I like mine pretty hot with lots of basil leaves because I have an endless supply of holy basil that my father grows.) 🙂

To make a great holy basil stir-fry, you want to make sure you really do pick the right kind of basil. You must get *holy basil* for this dish or your pad kraprao ends up a disaster. 🌪 Well, maybe not a disaster…but definitely something else. As far as chilies go, traditionally, this dish is supposed to be a little spicy so you’ll want a hot type. Of course, you don’t have to use as many chilies as I use in this recipe if you don’t like spicy food. I went to school with a dude who always got pad kraprao with no chilies, so that’s totally fine. 😂 And as always, cook your rice before you cook anything else! You’ll want to serve pad kraprao with rice and it’s best eaten when still warm.

Enjoy!

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