Fried Rice with Holy Basil

From cooking on the weekend, there was rice left over again. This is always a good opportunity to make some form of fried rice out of it. On Monday evening I decided on “Khao Pad Ga Prau” ( ข้าวผัดกะเพรา ), which is Thai fried rice with holy basil and chili. As a base I used the Holy Basil Seasoning Paste that you can buy ready-made at the Asian store. I learned the method of mixing this together with the meat directly in the wok with the rice from Stephan, with whom I recently prepared this during lunch break.

Preparation

The preparation of Khao Pad Ga Prau is quite simple and goes very quickly, so we do the only manual preparations right at the beginning. First cut the scallions into diagonal strips. Then remove the Thai chilis from their stems and keep both ingredients ready.

Now add two tablespoons of vegetable oil to the wok and sear the minced meat in it over high heat. Stir vigorously again and again and, as always with minced meat, make sure that no large lumps form. When it starts to change color, add the chilis and scallions and continue frying briefly.

Then reduce the heat slightly and add the Holy Basil Seasoning Paste as well as the fish and soy sauce and let it simmer lightly. Then finally add the rice to this mixture, mix everything well and continue frying while stirring. Possibly add a splash of water or more soy sauce so that the rice doesn’t dry out too much.

At the same time, heat the remaining oil in a flat pan and prepare four fried eggs in it, the edges may also become slightly brown and crispy in Thai style. Remove one of the eggs early, while the yolk is still almost liquid, from the pan and mix it under the fried rice. The yolks of the other eggs should also still be quite soft.

Finally, divide the rice into portions. Press each portion into a small bowl and turn it over so that a small rice mound is created. Then cover each rice mound with one of the fried eggs and serve immediately while hot.