If I had to pick one dish that says “home” to me, it would be Thai Beef and Basil Stir-fry, or Pad Gaprow.

Marion says…

Growing up in Australia with a Thai mum who loved to cook meant we could be having anything from a spicy Thai curry to noodles or roast lamb (my dad’s favourite) for dinner. But whenever my mum cooked this fragrant stir-fry, I always got excited.

Mum would make it without the serious heat, so the fragrant basil was the star of the show. But as an adult I love to make this as spicy as they serve it from a street cart in Bangkok. Seriously hot. I like mine spicier than my mum does, which means now she always berates me when I’m making it, saying: “You put too much chilli!”

In Thailand, the dish is made with holy basil (bai gaprow), which has this herbal, spicy aroma that’s hard to describe unless you’ve tasted it. The hallmark of a good Pad Gaprow, when it’s made in Bangkok, is the fiery heat of the wok and the heaping load of holy basil that’s added right at the last minute. You can often smell it before you see the dish being made on a street cart or in a restaurant kitchen. But at home in Australia, I’ll use Thai basil or even Italian basil if that’s all I can get. That’s the beauty of home cooking: you can adapt and use what you have, but the feeling stays the same.

For me, food has always been the way I stay connected to both sides of my identity: my Thai heritage and my Australian upbringing. Cooking this dish reminds me of street food stalls in Bangkok, but also eating dinner as a family here in Australia.

 

MARION GRASBY’S FLAVOURS OF HEART & HOME PREMIERES ON MONDAY 28 APRIL ON SBS ON DEMAND AND SBS FOOD.

 

Thai Beef and Basil Stir-fry (Pad Gaprow)

Ingredients

Serves 2

2 mild large red chillies
4 spicy Thai chillies (optional or to taste)
1 birdseye chilli
4 garlic cloves, peeled
300g beef mince
1½ cups holy basil or Thai basil
steamed rice, to serve

Chilli Fish Sauce (Prik Nam Pla)

¼ cup fish sauce
3 spicy Thai chillies, finely sliced
1 garlic clove, finely sliced
2 teaspoon lime juice

Stir-fry Sauce

3 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon sugar

Crispy Fried Eggs

¼ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs

 TIP  Can’t find holy basil or Thai basil? Italian basil will work in a pinch, bringing a slightly different but still vibrant flavour to the dish.

 

Method

Use a mortar and pestle to roughly pound the large red chillies, spicy Thai chillies, birdseye chilli and garlic. You don’t want a fine paste here – you want things just a bit crushed so you still have nice chunks of chilli.

For the chilli fish sauce, add the fish sauce, spicy Thai chillies, garlic and lime juice in a small bowl. Mix to combine. Set aside.

For the stir-fry sauce, combine the oyster sauce, fish sauce, freshly ground black pepper and sugar in a small bowl.

For the crispy fried eggs, place a wok or frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the vegetable oil, then crack in an egg. Fry, carefully splashing the hot oil over the egg, until the white is nice and crispy but the yolk is still gooey or cooked to your liking. Use a slotted spatula to transfer to some paper towel to drain off excess oil. Repeat the process with the other egg. Set aside.

Remove the excess oil from the wok, leaving behind 2 tablespoons. Place the wok back over medium heat, then add the chilli garlic paste to the wok. Cook, stirring, for half a minute or until the garlic is fragrant. Add the beef mince and break it up with your spatula. Stir‑fry for 4–5 minutes until it’s cooked through and most of the excess meat juices have evaporated.

Pour in the stir-fry sauce. Toss the ingredients until well combined and the beef is cooked through. Add the basil and stir-fry for half a minute or until the basil has just wilted.

Serve with steamed rice. Add the fried egg on top, and drizzle with your chilli fish sauce.

 

Published in ed#735