Pad Krapow Gai (Thai Basil Chicken)

This easy recipe for Pad Krapow Gai (Thai Basil Chicken) features ground chicken sautéed in a savoury sauce with aromatic basil leaves. Serve it on hot steamed rice with a fried egg as a comforting meal.

What is pad krapow gai?

In Thai, pad means "stir-fried," krapow means "holy basil," and gai is "chicken," so it literally means "stir-fried holy basil chicken."

What is holy basil?

Holy basil is native to Southeast Asia, so it can be hard to find here in Canada and in the United States.

Holy basil has medicinal properties which give it its more spicy, peppery taste.

It is also different than the more commonly found Mediterranean sweet basil, which is tastes more sweet (for lack of a better word).

However, a good substitution if you don't have access to holy basil is Thai sweet basil, which can be found at Asian supermarkets.

Thai basil has purple stems and has a more predominantly spicy licorice-anise flavour, but if you're in a pinch and can't find Thai basil, regular sweet basil will work just fine.

Why you'll love this recipe

Pad Krapow Gai is a flavourful dish, seasoned with a few pantry ingredients and aromatics.

Using ground chicken speeds up the cooking time (versus using chicken breast/thigh meat).

It's quick to prepare in under 30 minutes.

Ingredients you'll need

You'll need these ingredients to put the dish together:

• vegetable oil: I used avocado, but you can use any vegetable oil you like
• ground chicken: or ground turkey will work wonderfully well
• garlic & shallots: minced -- adds flavour to the chicken
• red Thai chilies: are small chilies that are bright red in colour; they can be quite spicy so add to your taste
• chicken broth: or you can use water
• soy sauce: dark and light soy sauce -- for saltiness and colour
• oyster sauce: is an Asian seasoning sauce made with oysters; if you can't find it, you can omit
• fish sauce: is another Asian sauce that is used predominantly in Vietnamese cuisine -- it's made from salted and fermented fish 
• granulated sugar: or honey, adds a little sweetness to balance the saltiness
• holy basil: as mentioned above, if you can't find holy basil, you can use any basil that you have on hand

You can find most of these ingredients in Asian supermarkets.

For serving:

• steamed rice
• fried egg

How to choose chilies

Thai chilies (also known as bird's eye chili) are very spicy, red, small slightly curved chilies that pack a punch.

You can find them at Asian grocery stores in small packages in the produce section.

In terms of spiciness, they are not as hot as a habanero, but are many more times spicier than jalapeno.

The flavour and hotness from a Thai chili is quite distinct, but if you're not able to get your hands on fresh Thai chilies, you can use cayenne powder.

For this recipe, substitute 1 teaspoon of cayenne powder if you don't have fresh Thai chili.

If you're want to go with a fresh chili, try using a serrano chili, which won't pack as much heat, but will give some flavour to the dish.

How to make it

It's important to have all your ingredients ready before you start (Step 1 below).

In a bowl, combine together the chicken broth, light and dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, and granulated sugar. Give it a stir and set aside (Step 2 below).

Heat up a large frying pan or wok over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan. 

Add the shallots, garlic and Thai chilies and sauté quickly, until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Next, add in the ground chicken and break it up with a wooden spoon. Cook until no longer pink, about 2-3 minutes (Step 3 below). 

Pour the chicken broth mixture into the pan and stir to coat all of the chicken. Be sure to scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. 

When almost all of the chicken broth sauce has reduced, turn off the heat (Step 4 below).

Add in the basil, give it a stir and remove from heat. The residual heat will continue to wilt the basil. 

How to serve

Serve the Pad Krapow Gai hot on steamed rice with a fried egg on top.

How to store & reheat

Store Pad Krapow Gai in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.

To reheat, you can microwave the Thai Basil Chicken until heated through, or re-warm on the stove top.

Tips & substitutions

If you can't find holy basil, you can use Thai or sweet basil.

Feel free to use ground turkey in place of ground chicken.

You can also use chicken meat (thigh or breast), cut into chunks. I've used chicken thigh for this dish -- just cut them into smaller chunks. 

Try using honey or palm sugar in place of the granulated sugar.

Adjust the amount of chilies to your taste -- if you don't like spicy, reduce the amount or omit. 

If you don't have oyster sauce or fish sauce on hand, substitute with Worcestershire instead.

Other recipes you may like

Be sure to check out these recipes:

Kimchi Fried Rice

Thai Mango Sticky Rice

Korean Bibimbap (Mixed Rice)

Mango Pomelo Sago Pudding 楊枝甘露

Durian Cream Pancakes

Easy Chicken Katsu Curry

Let me know if you try this recipe -- tag me on Instagram @siftandsimmer or leave me a comment/rating below.