Thai Basil Chicken (Pad Kraprow Gai)

Basil Chicken or Pad Kraprow Gai is one of those easy, rewarding meals that come together in minutes, and yet it's brimming with flavor.

Spicy, with a mouthwatering balance of savory and sweet, Thai Basil Chicken is a quick stir-fry that will fill your kitchen with the hunger-inducing aromas of caramelized garlic and holy basil. Piled high on a plate of jasmine rice with a fried egg on top, and you have yourself a plate of perfection.

Course Entree

Cuisine Best, Thai

Keyword easy, quick, spicy, stir-fry, street food, weeknight

Level Beginner

Main Ingredient Poultry

Diet Dairy-Free

Prep Time 7

Cook Time 3

Total Time 10

Servings servings

Calories 401kcal

Ingredients

For Basil Chicken

20 grams holy basil
250 grams boneless skin-on chicken thighs (2-3 large thighs)
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon evaporated cane sugar
9 grams garlic (2 medium cloves, roughly chopped)
5 grams chili peppers (to taste, roughly chopped)

For Thai Fried Egg

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 large egg

Grams + US Cups - US Standard

Instructions

Pick the basil leaves from the stems and discard the stems.
Measure out the oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, and sugar into a small bowl and stir together to combine.
Remove the skin and fat from the thighs and slice the meat in one direction and then turn your knife 90 degrees and slice the chicken in the other direction to get pieces of chicken that are about ⅓-inch in size.
Repeat with the skin, mincing it as finely as possible.
Prepare two frying pans (one for the egg and one for the chicken). Put the chicken skin and fat into one pan and 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil into the other.
For the pan with the chicken skin, turn the heat onto medium-low and slowly render out the fat, stirring from time to time to prevent burning.
When the chicken skin is browned and starting to crisp, turn up the heat to high and then add the garlic and chili peppers and saute until fragrant (about 30 seconds).
Meanwhile, turn the second burner onto medium-high heat and heat until the oil is shimmering and hot.
Add the chicken to the first pan with the garlic and chili peppers and stir-fry until the chicken is cooked through.
Carefully break an egg into the second pan and fry it until it's crisp on the bottom and the white is cooked through.
When the chicken is mostly cooked through, add the sauce and continue tossing and stir-frying until the sauce coats the chicken evenly.
Turn off the heat and toss the holy basil together with the chicken and plate immediately. Top your Pad Kraprow Gai with the fried egg.

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