Gai Pad Krapow : Spicy Basil Chicken

After a month long hiatus from my blog, I’m finally back. While work and other commitments had been pretty much unforgiving the past month, I still managed to cook up supper or dinner at least twice a week. Just that I was too lazy to blog about it. Think about. I reach home at 8.30pm, cook up a meal, eat it… By then, it would already be close to 10pm. All I want would be to shower, throw myself in bed and slumber for the next 100 years or until a charming princess comes to awaken me with a magical kiss. Or at least until the alarm rings, signaling another tedious day at work.

Before I digress further into fairytales and charming princesses with hot legs, let’s get back to the main topic. Food. A favourite place I used to have dinner at when I was with my previous company was this little Thai stall at Maxwell Food Center. Introduced by my Thai colleague, this stall serves up the best tasting spicy stir fried basil chicken and steamed rice. A short Google search revealed it’s Thai name: Gai Pad Krapow. Sounds a little like a comic book sound effect but don’t be fooled. It’s certainly a spicy devil of a dish.
As usual, I didn’t really refer to any recipe book for this simple dish, instead I tried to recall the different flavors and aromas within the dish to pinpoint which ingredients are needed. The result? A rather spicy Thai dish smelling strongly of basil. I liked it. Add in a little bowl of chopped bird’s eye chilli and fish sauce and you have a fantastically fiery dinner. Try it. You’ll love it. Just have a gallon of water ready by your side.

Basil Chicken with Steamed Rice

300g Minced chicken
8 stalks long beans - sliced into 1 inch lengths
15 -20 Basil leaves - shredded
6 bird’s eye chilli – thinly sliced
1 red onion – diced
2 shallots - diced
1/2 clove garlic - diced
3 tbsp Fish sauce
1 tbsp Dark soya sauce
Oil for wok frying

Heat oil in wok. Fry shallots, onions and garlic until fragrant.
Add in fish sauce and dark soya sauce before adding in the minced chicken and basil.
Stir fry for 5 mins before adding in chilli and long beans.
If necessary add in more oil.
Serve with rice and fried egg.