Pork Stir Fry with Basil
Asian Quick Recipes Pork Meat Dishes Gluten-Free Recipes
Today we take another little trip to Thailand with a traditional dish just as popular as Pad Thai. Because it's a quick recipe, Pad Kra Pao is the favorite of street food stalls. And it is so loved in Thailand that they even eat it for breakfast.
Ingredients
250g pork neck (chopped into very small cubes or minced; after several tests, my preference is the cubed version; can be substituted with beef or chicken)
1 medium onion (about 50g)
basil leaves
Aromatic Paste
3 garlic cloves
1 red hot pepper (large)
10g parsley (half of a small bunch)
5g basil leaves (from 2 stalks of basil; Thai if you have it; I used Italian basil)
3 tablespoons neutral oil (sunflower, avocado, grapeseed)
salt
Sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon salty soy sauce
1 pinch Chinese 5 spices
2 tablespoons water
Servings: 2
How to prepare pork stir fry with basil
- Prepare the aromatic paste by blending everything with an immersion blender or in a small food processor.
- Mix the sauce ingredients in a small cup. If you have Thai basil, don't add 5 spices to the sauce, Thai basil has an anise flavor. Since I used Italian basil, I supplemented this aroma by using 5 spices.
- Cut the onion into thin slices.
- Heat a wide pan/wok (about 25-28 cm) well and add just a little oil, enough to grease it. When hot, add the meat and stir-fry on high heat, stirring frequently only until the meat changes color everywhere and no pink is visible. Remove the meat from the pan.
- Add the onion and continue to stir-fry on high heat, stirring frequently for only 1-2 minutes, until the onion starts to smell sweet and has a few golden spots here and there (it shouldn't soften). Remove the onion over the meat.
- Add the aromatic paste to the hot pan and stir-fry on medium heat only until the oil separates at the edges (it doesn't take long, about 1 minute).
- Add the meat with all its released juices and onion over the aromatic paste. Stir on medium heat for another 1 minute, so the meat absorbs the aromas.
- Add the sauce and stir-fry for another 1 minute to reduce the sauce a bit. Taste for salt, but you probably won't need more, the sauces are quite salty.
- Remove the pan from heat and let it cool a bit, then add as many basil leaves as you want.
- Serve warm, on plain rice (cook 50g per person), with cucumbers, green onion and definitely with a soft fried egg per serving on top.
