, Thailand

A peerless pad krapao

Stir-fried holy basil with minced pork

By Kenny Mah

Nong Ice promises us the best pad krapao moo we’ll ever taste. We’re in his neighbourhood so we trust him though we’ve had our fair share of stir-fried holy basil with minced pork. Served with steaming hot white rice and topped with a perfect fried egg, and we’re looking at the breakfast of champions, Thai-style.

So it’ll take some convincing.

He brings us to a nondescript house somewhere in Saraburi. The owner, Auntie Pin, is sitting at a table in the front yard, chatting with her children. There are no other customers.

We greet her respectfully with a wai. She smiles and asks Nong Ice who his friends are and where we hail from. What would we like for lunch. We smile back and announce, “Pad krapao krubb!”, perhaps a little too eagerly.

She fires up her wok and in no time at all serves us what looks just like another plate of pad krapao moo albeit with an extra topping of just fried livers. I’m not a fan of innards but these are so good. Melt in your mouth.

Nong Ice didn’t lie; this is the best pad krapao moo we’ve ever tasted.

I order another plate, of course, almost before I finish my first one.