8 min read

When you are about to get serious about the holy spirits, you talk about them, act for them, and eat them for your body to get deeper into their essence. Well, this dish is all about those holy ingredients, spices, and a lot of creamy deliciousness.
Thai basil minced pork, also known as holy basil, is stir-fried with minced pork and served with premium rice that has an immense flavor and a white, pearly color. When combined with minced pork and holy basil, this dish can be on the table at your house in less than 30 minutes.
This Thai basil pork mince is said to take you to the streets of Bangkok, where it is famous for its fragrant and spicy Thai food for any and every day. Thai basil (or regular basil found in your area) is the only authentic ingredient you need, along with their method of course.
The best part of preparing this dish is using a single pot so that all of the ingredients can absorb the flavor, texture, and aroma. For an extra creamy experience of rice and minced pork with Thai basil, you can also add a fried egg (sunny side up).
To know more about this, let us continue right into the blog for more information, tips, and a lot of ideas.
Pad Kra Pao Moo is a delectable Thai dish made with minced pork meat and basil that is stir-fried until it is blanched and served with white pearly rice.
As an alternative to the traditional Thai basil, the dish is often pungent and peppery.
In this Pad Kra Pao Moo, “moo” literally translates into “pork.” This dish doesn’t have a single name, rather, it is also known as Pad Gra Prao, Pad Ka Pow, and sometimes even Phat Kaphrao.
It is a common daily dish in Thailand and can be classified as street food or food market.
Fun fact: Thai people call for this dish as ‘NO IDEA’ on a day when they don’t know what to eat.
Pad Kra Pao’s taste is hard to describe, but you can say it holds all the flavors in one bite.
When you bite into it, you’ll notice a creamy and crunchy texture with a mild sweet flavor. Then the kick of spicy, salty, and tart flavors comes through making your tongue drool and doubling the salivating.
Thai fried rice tastes different for three reasons.
The first is that they use jasmine rice, which is more fragrant, flakier, and prominent. The second reason is the blanched Thai basil, which is added to the cooked rice so that all the taste of basil combines into the rice, making it a bowl of distinctly flavored rice.
The addition of fish sauce and oyster sauce to the rice is the third and primary reason. Some people also use dark and light soy sauce, but that is more of a Chinese cuisine component. This allows the rice to lick up its moisture and nutrition, giving it a longer flavor than plain rice.
Any type of rice can be cooked to perfection by parboiling, steaming, or boiling.
If you’re unfamiliar with parboiling, it involves rinsing and draining the rice before cooking it on a low flame with a little bit of cleansed water. This rice has its nutrients intact and eliminates any harmful microorganisms.
The boiling and steaming are done on a high flame, which retards the high-fat oils added to them. You can always increase the nutrition with vegetables and meat on the side.
To add a unique flavor to the rice, alternate the water usage with a flavor-based cooking fluid, such as bouillon or broth, which is a great option for having delectable flavored rice.
Whereas, if the broth isn’t available, you can count on the herbs, spices, and veggies.
Frozen vegetables like peas, fresh herbs, and some dried fruits will make good combinations with jasmine rice. Though spices like creole and taco seasoning, cayenne pepper, cumin, or curry spices give them a hint of spice and taste
The amount of pork you are using will determine how long it takes to cook; if you are using one pound or less, it will be done in four to five minutes; if you are using more, double the time.
It will also depend on the level of doneness you prefer for your pork meat.
To prevent the growth of any harmful bacteria and to ensure tenderness rather than chewiness, pork meat is always cooked through (towards the center).
Under the FDA guidelines, you are strictly instructed to check the meat’s doneness with a thermometer, whether it’s poultry meat or pork; the reading should come up to the scale of 165 Fahrenheit or 71 Celsius.
Cooking minced pork with Thai basil is straightforward and easy; first, prepare all the vegetables and ingredients and keep them side by side so that you can add them in quickly without burning or ruining the authentic Thai dish.
Saute the onion and garlic together; when they are transparent, add in the chilies and your real Thai basil, followed by the minced pork, and stir the components.
Generously pour the oyster sauce, fish sauce, and desired amount of soy sauce into the meat, with a few spices along the way. Let the meat and basil get blanched and tendered.
Top it off with a few lime leaves and chilies. Serve the juicy, basil-infused pork with jasmine rice.
For making a “sunny side up egg,” add two to three tablespoons of cooking oil (or your preferred one) to the skillet on medium heat, crack an egg so that the yolk doesn’t pop, and cook it for 3 minutes. Then you can add the seasoning at this point.
The key step is to then cover the skillet with a lid for about 1-2 minutes to allow the white to cook more evenly while the yolk remains soft. Serve it immediately before the yolk solidifies.
Yes, you can keep the stir-fried minced pork with Thai basil in the fridge.
To store it, when the food comes to room temperature, simply put the leftover food in an air-tight container and then into a refrigerator for up to four or five days.
For longer storage, keep the container in the freezer, which will increase its life by two to three months.
The jasmine rice aromatized with real Thai basil leaves, topped with a runny egg, is an immaculate combination with the stir-fried minced pork meat butt. However, if you ever want to have a change in the textures and flavors, here is what you can try:
NUTRITION | PER SERVING |
Calories | 310kcal |
Carbs | 5g |
Total Fat | 34.5g |
Cholesterol | 94mg |
Sodium | 1362mg |
Potassium | 466mg |
Protein | 26.9g |
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