2 tb Chopped garlic
2 tb Chopped shallots
2 tb Chopped mixed red & green
-chilies (prik ki nu)
1 ts Green peppercorns; whole
1/4 c Fish sauce
2 tb Palm sugar
1 c Coarsely chopped holy basil
-leaves (bai gaprao)
1 c Sliced onion (any mixture of
-Spanish onions; red onions;
-shallots and spring onions
1 lb Ground or minced beef
Neua pad bai kaprao (beef and basil)
This is a quick and easy dish to make. The holy basil has a "hot
peppery" taste, but if you can't get it then the standard European
basil is a reasonable substitute, though you should add a little
freshly ground black pepper in this case.
prik ki nu - called mouse dropping chilies, or dynamite chilies -
are the best chili to use, but if you can't get it standard
Mexican habanero chilies, or Scotch Bonnets, will do very well as a
substitute.
My wife chops the beef with a pair of cleavers, and I can't bear to
watch... you can of course use a meat grinder or a food processor.
The garlic, shallots, peppers and peppercorns are ground together
in a mortar & pestle or a food processor. In a hot wok, with a
little cooking oil, briefly stir fry this paste to bring out the
flavour and aroma. add the remaining ingredients, except the
onion, and continue to stir until the beef is cooked through. Add
the onions, mix thoroughly, and serve.
Serving: For luncheon pad bai kaprao can be served over plain rice,
or over a fried egg or egg crepe, placed on the rice. For dinner it
goes well with the hot and sour tom yum soups, as well as curries and
other Thai food.
Add the usual Thai condiments (chilies in fish sauce (prik nam
pla), ground chillis (prik phom) and sugar), as well, perhaps as
ground black pepper.
Variants: It can be made with chopped pork or chicken, though of
course the flavours are quite different. You can also experiment
with replacing the meat with hard tofu marinated in a mixture of
sweet soy, fish sauce and ground ginger, say, or a vegetable mix
of your choice (I like to mix broccoli and cauliflower florets,
with julienned carrots and wing beans), to make a vegetarian pad
bai kaprao.
