Thai Pork Pad Krapow

This is my "go to" Thai dish and incorporates three of the four Thai flavours of Sour, Spicy, Sweet, Salty. Whenever I go to Thailand, I eat this dish regularly and I've eaten it anywhere from street side stalls to hotels (room service). I like to order a hot bowl of Tom Yum Goong to go along with it.

This is a genuine Thai dish, done the way you would find it in Thailand. This is not the westernised version, which although isn't disgusting, isn't Thai either. The emphasis of the dish is on the flavour of the pork, so although it may be varied by adding eggplant or long beans, remember to keep the focus on the pork.

Ingredients:

• Minced pork
• Thai basil
• Garlic
• Fish sauce
• Lime juice
• Fresh chilli
• Dried chilli
• White pepper

Fry the garlic, fresh and cut chillies and a little Thai basil in some oil till fragrant and add the minced pork. Turn the heat up high so that the pork browns, not steams. Add in the fish sauce and lime juice until you get the taste desired. 

Throw the rest of the Thai basil on top of the dish and serve with a fried egg and steamed rice. I also like to add some sambal belachan chilli sauce on the side, even though that isn't strictly Thai.

If you can find fresh green peppercorns and the small round eggplants, they go very well into this dish too.