Chicken Krapow
This spicy Thai basil dish is my most ordered, most eaten, most cooked Thai dish. And, after crunching all the numbers, I’ve decided that this dish is a winner 🏆
I’m a firm believer in continuous improvement, and this recipe has evolved a bit every time I’ve made it. And, last month, I got the chance to live cook it with a few of my friends and really explored the flexibility of this dinner.
The latest results were a juicy chicken satay, paired well with the creamy peanut sauce, perfectly whetting our appetite for dinner. Followed by the main dish, of course, a chicken curry with a savory and sweet sauce soaking into the sticky jasmine rice. The recipe to make these is fairly straightforward and jam-packed with such fresh flavors from fresh ingredients.
What you need
~2 lbs of chicken, or alternate protein
1 shallot
6 cloves of garlic
(At least) 4 red chilies, 2 green chillies
Fish sauce
Low-sodium soy sauce
Dark sweet soy sauce
White sugar
Thai basil
Served with jasmine rice
What to do
Make aromatic base. Use a mortar & pestle to pound together 1 shallot, 6 cloves of garlic, and all of the chilies. You’ll want to chop the shallot into smaller pieces.
Chop chicken into very thin slices and put into a bowl. Add 1 tbsp of low-sodium soy sauce to the bowl of prepared chicken.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in the wok on high heat. Once it’s hot, add the aromatic base — the ground up shallot / garlic / chilies mix — to the oil. Cook until base is lightly browned and separates from the oil.
Add the marinated chicken or protein to the wok. Keep at medium-high heat and stir frequently.
Add 1 tbsp fish sauce and 1 tbsp soy sauce to wok. Continue cooking on medium-high heat until the smell of the fish sauce dissipates. Then, add 1 tbsp dark sweet soy sauce and 1 tbsp of granulated white sugar. Mix well.
Use 1/4 cup of water (or more, if needed) to reach the consistency of your preference. Mix and let simmer for a couple minutes.
Stir in a large handful of Thai basil leaves and keep stirring until they’re wilted.
Serve immediately with jasmine rice.
Our Cook-along Dinners
Here are a few shared pictures from our cook-along participants!
