Pad Kra Pao

Stir-fry

• minced pork500 g
• garlic6 cloves
• bird’s eye chillies6–10
• vegetable oil2 tbsp
• oyster sauce1 tbsp
• light soy sauce1 tbsp
• dark soy sauce1 tsp
• fish sauce1 tbsp
• palm sugar1 tsp
• water3 tbsp
• holy basil50 g

Fried egg

• eggs4
• vegetable oil150 ml

To serve

• jasmine rice300 g
• limes (optional)1

Stir-fry

1. 01

   Rinse the jasmine rice and cook it following the packet instructions; keep it warm.

2. 02

   Pound the garlic and chillies together in a mortar for about 30 seconds, into a rough paste with pieces still visible. Chopped fine with a knife they do the job, but pounding bruises them and releases far more flavour, and the difference shows on the plate.

3. 03

   Stir the oyster sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, fish sauce, palm sugar and water together in a small bowl. Set it beside the hob with the basil; once the wok is hot, everything happens within a few minutes.

4. 04

   Heat a wok over the highest heat until it smokes, add the oil and then the garlic and chilli. Stir for 10 to 15 seconds, only until the smell turns sharp and catches at the back of your throat. It must not brown.

5. 05

   Add the pork, press it flat against the wok and leave it alone for 1 full minute so the underside browns, then break it up and keep it moving for 3 to 4 minutes. Wait until no pink remains, the liquid has cooked off and some of the mince has crisped and darkened at the edges. Mince that has only simmered in its own juices gives a duller, greyer dish.

6. 06

   Pour in the sauce and toss for about 30 seconds, until it has reduced to a coating and there is no pool left in the bottom of the wok.

7. 07

   Turn off the heat, tip in all of the basil at once and fold it through for 10 seconds. It should wilt in the residual heat and stay dark green; cooked any longer it blackens and loses the peppery smell that gives the dish its name.

Fried egg

8. 08

   Heat the 150 ml of oil in a small frying pan or a clean wok, where it should be about 1 cm deep, until a drop of egg white sizzles hard the moment it lands, around 180°C. Crack in one egg and stand back; it will puff and spit straight away.

9. 09

   Spoon the hot oil over the white and around the rim for 30 to 45 seconds, until the edges are brown, frilled and brittle and the yolk is still loose. Lift it out with a slotted spoon onto kitchen paper and fry the rest one at a time.

10. 10

    Cut the lime into wedges, if using. Give each plate a mound of rice, the pork beside it, an egg on top and a lime wedge, and break the yolk into the rice as you eat.