Dishes · A classic of Thai

Pad kaphrao

Also Phat kaphrao, Pad kra pao, Holy basil stir-fry

Minced pork or chicken stir-fried hard with garlic, bird's eye chilli and holy basil, over rice with a crisp fried egg.

Pad kaphrao

What makes it pad kaphrao

  • Holy basil, added at the very end.
  • Garlic and chilli pounded together and fried until fragrant.
  • Over rice with khai dao — an egg fried in hot oil until the edges crackle.

Where it comes from

Thailand's everyday one-plate meal: cooked in a minute over a fierce flame, and on the menu at almost every street stall. It's often what people order when they can't decide.

Kaphrao is holy basil — peppery and clove-scented, quite unlike the sweet Thai basil in a green curry. Swapping one for the other is the commonest complaint about it abroad, along with the onions, beans and carrots purists leave out.

How it varies

Kaphrao moo krob
With crisp pork belly.
Kaphrao talay
With seafood.

Be the first here

Start your own pad kaphrao
No one here has made pad kaphrao yet. Start it as v1, and every version after is an experiment the next cook can learn from.

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