Spotlight

Basil Chicken (Gai Pad Krapow)

December 1st, 2009Recipes, Recipes, Thai Recipes54 Comments
Thai Basil Chicken (Gad Pad Grapow)
Thai Basil Chicken (Gad Pad Grapow) pictures (1 of 4)

When I was working in Beverly Hills, there is this Thai restaurant that my colleagues and I would always go to. One of my favorite dishes was its spicy basil chicken rice plate—perfectly steamed and fluffy jasmine rice coupled with ground chicken meat infused with aromatic Thai basil leaves. It was delicious, with fine balance of fiery hot and savory. I just loved that dish.

Now that I left the company, I often miss the basil chicken rice plate for my lunch. Living in Orange County, with no decent Thai restaurants within the 30 miles radius, I decided to learn making it myself.  And so I did, and I learned well…(get Thai basil chicken recipe or gai pad krapow recipe after the jump)

There are many gai pad krapow recipes scattered on the internet but I attempted and adapted the basil chicken recipe at Temple of Thai. The beautiful picture pretty much sealed the deal. It did not disappoint; it works and delivers the authentic flavors that I have been longing for. This recipe is definitely a keeper!

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(Click Page 2 for the Thai Basil Chicken Recipe)

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54 comments... read them below or add one

  1. David says:

    Oooh yes,I’ve noticed that the smaller the chicken the more I enjoy it. I will certainly put this recipe to use as soon as possible.

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  2. I can “smell” the fragrance of this dish from here by using my imagination!!! Yummy yummy!!!

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  3. great recipe…chicken and basil is such a great flavor combination!

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  4. tigerfish says:

    I absolutely love this dish too. And those Thai restaurants I have been too either have it too greasy (excessive use of chili oil) or too salty.

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  5. That looks so authentic and yummy…I’ll buy the basil try it this weekend. Ever since my friend Pieter gave me kecap manis, I’ve used it in many dishes.

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  6. scp says:

    Which Thai restaurant in/near Beverly Hills did you go to?

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  7. Swee San says:

    i fell in love with Thai food when I was in Sydney.. I needed to eat Thai food at least once or twice a week, but I never did cook them.. I should try since this is easy :D and yummmmyyy !! Served with rice and sunny side up egg! * oh hungry… *

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  8. Michael says:

    Looks so good. Makes me think to do a larb play on the recipe and add roasted rice powder.

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  9. cimee says:

    Oh…. now i know what to do with the overgrown basil tree i have… THANKS!!!

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  10. Ashley says:

    Delicious. Where was this yummy recipe when I had an overabundance of basil this summer? :)

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  11. peanutts says:

    mmmmmmmmm, that looks very simple

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  12. aparna says:

    basil can be replaced by spnich and would taste great as well.

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  13. jm says:

    can you use jaggery to substitute for the palm sugar? or some other substitute?

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  14. Fiona says:

    This is one of my absolute favorites when I lived in Thailand: though usually with pork (moo) as opposed to chicken. Incredibly delicious over rice, or with the Thai rice crackers!

    Mmm. Now I’m homesick.

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  15. Khatiya says:

    I love this stir fry! Extra spicy for me please. :) Just a couple of tablespoons of this and a bowl of steamed rice and I call it a meal. But make sure I have a big tall glass of water near by. LOL If you can get holy basil it would even be super delicious. It’s what they used in Thailand. Holy basil is one of my favorite herbs. The aroma is a lil lemony and peppery and compliments well with spicy stir-fried dishes like this one. I have a picture of my holy basil plant that I used when I made a classic Cambodian dish called Fiery Stir-Fried Lemongrass Quail.

    http://khatiya-korner.com/blog/2009/09/11/fiery-stir-fry-lemongrass-quail/

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  16. Alta says:

    Oh yum! On a chilly, wet day such as this, I would love to cozy up to this spicy dish!

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  17. cap says:

    looks delicious, I’m cooking it this weekend – can you tell me how many that recipe will serve?
    thanks,

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  18. Marie says:

    Yum, imagining how basil-y and wonderful it’d be with a bowl of rice!

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  19. lingzie says:

    this is one of my favourite thai dishes! doesnt look spicy but it sure is hot!
    never attempted to make it on my own cos i guess pg’s quite blessed with thai food restaurants :)

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  20. zenchef says:

    That looks like a really nice dish Bee! I understand why you’ve been craving it. That’s the perfect lunch for any day of the week. I’ll be making soon! Thanks for sharing!

    (4 exclamation points in one comment. I think i exceeded my quota! :)

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  21. hello it is my first time visiting here, it’s a great site with a great recipes, thanks for share.

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  22. Tracy says:

    This recipe sounds fantastic! I love Thai food. Where I live, any Thai restaurant that I have been to seems to skimp on the basil. I always wind up disappointed when I order this dish because I expect to see the picture you have here….big pieces of delicious basil sitting on top of the dish waiting for me to eat them up. When the actual dish arrives, I usually have to dig to find even one bit of basil! I will definitely be making this dish at home! Thanks for sharing.

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  23. Rashmi says:

    This look really great. I also like it extra spicy.
    You can find holy basil in Little Sigone markets.
    Thanks for sharing this recipe with us.

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  24. diva says:

    basil is pretty much my favourite herb so i definitely love this! will try and make it this week as my meals are starting to seem pretty boring and i’m craving thai food :)

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  25. stew says:

    i cooked this the same day you posted it – it was awesome!

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    • zaphia says:

      This one is next on my list. I made Kung Pao chicken today for lunch and loved it as did my guests! Thanks for sharing your recipes. Whatever I have tried from your website has always turned out delightful.

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  26. great posting.. that’s a really good

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  27. Mr Pomme says:

    I’ve tested it today and it was pretty fine(I’m in love with sweet basil), thank you for your recipe.I’ve put an adpation of it on my website in french.

    Regards,
    Mr Pomme

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  28. Holy basil should be used or it will be called Phat haropa instead.

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  29. Danielle says:

    Thank you for the delicious recipe! I love thai food and I had this dish at a thai restaurant before but it was way too salty. Your recipe is so simple and easy to make and it has just enough flavor to satisfy my taste buds. Thank you! =)

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  33. anthony says:

    Looks amazing and is making me hungry. Thanks for the recipe, I will give it a try.

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  35. Moondog says:

    I make this at least once a week, substituting brown sugar for the palm sugar and using very thinly sliced steak instead of ground chicken. The smell of fish sauce is, I find, overwhelmingly strong, so I usually add in the juice of half a lime during the ‘add liquid’ stage, and serve it over rice with a lime slice as garnish/further flavor to brighten things up.

    It’s very popular. =>

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  36. Chris says:

    I cannot wait to give this a try! Could you also make it with Pork? If so, which cut do you think?

    It’s funny, I’ve ordered this at various restaurants in the UK and sometimes it comes like the above but other times it comes as sliced meat with more of a ‘sauce’. It definitely has the same English language name on the menus.

    Oh, also, will your book be available in the UK? Thanks again!

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  37. hogmanay says:

    I love this dish! Will you recommend cutting chicken breast/thigh into small piece at home, rather than buying ground meat at supermarkets?

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  39. Ben P. says:

    It is a good take although I don’t grind up the chicken meat, use Thai Basil and Brown Sugar. Also there are a lot of good Thai restaurants in the OC, you must not be from round here are yah???

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  40. jimmattie says:

    I’ve made this recipe a few times now, and I absolutely love it. I do make a bit extra of the sauce but all the proportions are spot on. I actually like this one better than the local thai place! Thanks a lot for the recipe!

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  41. Dave says:

    Oh my! I am currently eating this wonderful dish but I needed to take a break and simply say “Oh wow” and “oh my”! Such a wonderful dish and an easy one to make. Goes very well with jasmine rice.

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  42. Dave Gebo says:

    Excellent recipe! I’ve made this many times and always a hit. Tonight, I substituted the chicken with shrimp. Chopped (not ground) shrimp. Ooh so very nice!! : )

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