Thai Basil Beef (Pad Krapow Neua)
By Culiora
A classic Thai basil beef stir-fry (Pad Krapow Neua) featuring seared minced or thinly sliced beef coated in a fragrant sauce. Fiery bird's eye chilies and garlic are balanced by savoury fish sauce and the distinctive peppery aroma of holy basil.
- Servings: 4
- Prep time: 15 min
- Cook time: 8 min
- Total time: 23 min
Ingredients
- 500 g beef (flank steak thinly sliced against the grain or coarse ground beef)
- 5 clove garlic cloves, peeled
- 4 pcs Thai bird's eye chilies (adjust to heat preference)
- 1 pcs shallot, finely sliced
- 2 tbsp neutral cooking oil (such as vegetable or canola)
- 100 g snake beans or green beans, cut into 2 cm pieces
- 40 g fresh holy basil (or Thai sweet basil leaves if unavailable), packed
- 1.5 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp dark sweet soy sauce (kecap manis or Thai dark soy sauce)
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp water
Instructions
- In a mortar and pestle, coarsely pound the peeled garlic cloves and bird's eye chilies into a rough paste. If you do not have a mortar, finely mince them together on a cutting board.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the oyster sauce, fish sauce, light soy sauce, dark sweet soy sauce, sugar, and water until the sugar dissolves. Set aside next to the stove.
- Heat the neutral cooking oil in a wok or large heavy skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the crushed chili-garlic paste and sliced shallots, stir-frying for about 30 seconds until intensely fragrant but not browned.
- Increase the heat to high. Add the beef, spreading it across the hot surface to sear. Stir-fry vigorously, breaking up clumps if using ground beef, for 2 to 3 minutes until mostly browned.
- Toss in the cut green beans and pour the sauce mixture over the meat. Stir-fry continuously over high heat for 1 to 2 minutes until the liquid reduces slightly and forms a glossy glaze coating the beef.
- Turn off the heat entirely. Add the fresh basil leaves immediately and toss for 20 to 30 seconds until just wilted from the residual heat. Transfer to a serving platter and serve immediately with warm jasmine rice.