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Pad Ka-Prao w/ holy basil #Homecooking

Pad Ka-Prao w/ holy basil #Homecooking
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  • Pad Ka-Prao w/ holy basil #Homecooking

    Post #1 - September 6th, 2018, 2:34 am
    Post #1 - September 6th, 2018, 2:34 am Post #1 - September 6th, 2018, 2:34 am
    Thanks to the bride's green thumb, Pad Ka-Prao w/ holy basil from our garden, egg & prik nam pla. Loosely based on SheSimmers, I added long bean. #homecooking

    HolyBasil1.jpg Holy Basil

    BasilChickenP5.jpg Pad Ka-Prao w/ holy basil, egg & prik nam pla.
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  • Post #2 - September 6th, 2018, 4:59 am
    Post #2 - September 6th, 2018, 4:59 am Post #2 - September 6th, 2018, 4:59 am
    nice looking plate
  • Post #3 - May 3rd, 2021, 9:13 am
    Post #3 - May 3rd, 2021, 9:13 am Post #3 - May 3rd, 2021, 9:13 am
    Sunday visit to Talard Thai Market ingredients for Pad Ka-Prao, though with Thai basil as Holy was not available, and Ong Choy for stir-fry. Light lunch at the cash-only dine-in area in the rear of the shop and on my way. Also made Thai cucumber salad and Jasmine rice (stove top grandma finger method, perfect)

    One of our neighbors was over for dinner, she gave it a hearty thumbs up, the bride gave it a unqualified "tasty" and even my critical self thought I did ok. I'd have preferred Holy basil, though its a bit of a unicorn in Chicago. I've both eaten in restaurants and made Pad Ka-Prao at home with holy basil and there is a noticeable flavor difference.

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  • Post #4 - May 3rd, 2021, 1:05 pm
    Post #4 - May 3rd, 2021, 1:05 pm Post #4 - May 3rd, 2021, 1:05 pm
    Gary, I've seen holy basil every time I've visited Talard Market. Four or five times now. Also, they frequently have it at the Broadway/Argyle location of Park 2 Shop. I don't think it's the unicorn it once was, though I wonder if there's a seasonal component I'm missing. Haven't visited either in the past month.
  • Post #5 - May 3rd, 2021, 1:35 pm
    Post #5 - May 3rd, 2021, 1:35 pm Post #5 - May 3rd, 2021, 1:35 pm
    G Wiv wrote: I've both eaten in restaurants and made Pad Ka-Prao at home with holy basil and there is a noticeable flavor difference.


    Oh, no doubt. It's quite a different flavor. That said, I think technically your dish would be called pad horap(h)a, as krapow (or whichever transliteration you use - David Thomspon in Thai Food goes with grapao) specifically means "holy basil."

    It's been a few years since I've found holy basil to grow, so I typically use Thai basil or cinnamon basil. They're different profiles, but they both work really well (and which I prefer to Italian basil in this dish, although that'll work in a pinch and sometimes I mix them all up for the heck of it. Basil + extra hot peppers + stinky fish sauce + proteins = yum!)
  • Post #6 - May 3rd, 2021, 1:45 pm
    Post #6 - May 3rd, 2021, 1:45 pm Post #6 - May 3rd, 2021, 1:45 pm
    I used to see it in one of the kiosks in the produce department at Fresh Farms on Touhy but I haven't been there since 'rona came to town. Do they no longer have it there?

    Whenever possible, I've been subbing in Thai basil from Richwell Market, which is not an exact match for holy but certainly a better match than genovese.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #7 - May 3rd, 2021, 3:25 pm
    Post #7 - May 3rd, 2021, 3:25 pm Post #7 - May 3rd, 2021, 3:25 pm
    The Thai basil at Fresh Farms Touhy is in the stand on the right side of the opening in the greens section that lets people cut to liquor section and front registers.
  • Post #8 - May 3rd, 2021, 4:15 pm
    Post #8 - May 3rd, 2021, 4:15 pm Post #8 - May 3rd, 2021, 4:15 pm
    bweiny wrote:The Thai basil at Fresh Farms Touhy is in the stand on the right side of the opening in the greens section that lets people cut to liquor section and front registers.

    Is it Thai, Thai Holy or both?

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #9 - May 3rd, 2021, 4:28 pm
    Post #9 - May 3rd, 2021, 4:28 pm Post #9 - May 3rd, 2021, 4:28 pm
    I've been to Talard three times in the last two weeks, no Holy Basil on hand. Plus I ask if there is any on hand. Also, often the eat-in steam-table area has Pad Ka-Prao, if its there I always order. Pad Ka-Prao has not been in the rotation lately.

    I was at Tai Nam Tuesday last week, no Holy Basil, I looked. Not seen Holy Basil at Richwell or Fresh Farms.

    Genovese basil or sweet basil* is "everywhere" Thai basil not hard to find, lots of types of basil. I stand by my statement, Holy Basil is a unicorn in Chicago. :)

    I should also add I enjoy Pad Ka-Prao immensely with Thai Basil, though Holy Basil adds a certain little something to the mix.

    *-----> This website says Genovese basil and sweet basil are not the same thing. News to me, but I'm no gardener.

    Edit to add: I was going to go to the Broadway Park-to-Shop last Tuesday, right after lunch at Dong Ky. When we went to enter Dong Ky the owner stopped us and said they had an city inspector there. Please come back later. We went to Le's Pho / Tai Nam instead. (Nha Hang is closed on Tuesdays or I'd have gone there then Viet Hoa.
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  • Post #10 - May 3rd, 2021, 5:30 pm
    Post #10 - May 3rd, 2021, 5:30 pm Post #10 - May 3rd, 2021, 5:30 pm
    Genovese is a type of Italian basil. There are now a lot of cultivars of this type with varying size of plants or resistance to downy mildew, which has become a problem in some parts of the country. There are other types of Italian basil such as Neapolitan. I haven't seen seeds for that type in a long time but did grow some years ago. Flavor was slightly less intense than Genovese. Sweet basil without some qualifying adjective is pretty generic for Italian basil and covers a range of subtypes.

    You could say that Genovese is a sweet basil but many sweet basils are not Genovese. An analogy is the prosciutto is ham but most hams are not prosciutto.
  • Post #11 - May 3rd, 2021, 6:56 pm
    Post #11 - May 3rd, 2021, 6:56 pm Post #11 - May 3rd, 2021, 6:56 pm
    ronnie_suburban wrote:
    bweiny wrote:Thai basil at Fresh Farms Touhy is in the stand on the right side of the opening in the greens section that lets people cut to liquor section and front registers.

    Is it Thai, Thai Holy or both?
    Thai non-holy based on their purple stems, which is an easy way of differentiating to my knowledge.
  • Post #12 - May 3rd, 2021, 7:03 pm
    Post #12 - May 3rd, 2021, 7:03 pm Post #12 - May 3rd, 2021, 7:03 pm
    bweiny wrote:
    ronnie_suburban wrote:
    bweiny wrote:Thai basil at Fresh Farms Touhy is in the stand on the right side of the opening in the greens section that lets people cut to liquor section and front registers.

    Is it Thai, Thai Holy or both?
    Thai non-holy based on their purple stems, which is an easy way of differentiating to my knowledge.

    Yep. That's my understanding, too. I sometimes see it labeled as Vietnamese basil but I think that's exactly the same thing as Thai non-holy basil.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #13 - May 4th, 2021, 6:00 pm
    Post #13 - May 4th, 2021, 6:00 pm Post #13 - May 4th, 2021, 6:00 pm
    Definitely not pad ka-prao but a completely delicious and easy facsimile -- Pad Bai Horapha -- using unholy Thai basil . . . :wink:

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    Mise En Place & Makoto AS Ryusei Gyuto, 210mm
    Thai basil, carrot (my own personal bastardization), scallion tops, shallots, garlic, Thai bird chiles, coarsely-ground pork, peanut oil peekaboo, dark sweet soy sauce, Golden Mountain, oyster sauce and fish sauce.

    Trying to balance the heat and the sweet to keep everyone in the family happy, so even though I omitted palm sugar, the dark sweet soy + carrot + 3 Crabs (the sweetest fish sauce in my pantry) seemed to get it where it needed to go. Being an after-work edition, I again went with the mini cuisinart to make a paste of the garlic, shallots and chiles. I know it's wrong but it's so fast and easy. :oops:

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    Plated Up
    Garnished with a sunny side-up egg and some scallion tops. I also enjoyed a serving of the weekly slaw with this but neglected to get a shot of it. It was a surprisingly nice match.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #14 - May 5th, 2021, 12:30 pm
    Post #14 - May 5th, 2021, 12:30 pm Post #14 - May 5th, 2021, 12:30 pm
    Nice! Very similar to mine, but I've never tried using Golden Mountain in it (or in anything else for that matter.) When I get my basils going this summer, I'll have to try it. Love the coarse grind on that pork! I usually end up cleaving my meats to get the right texture (or my preferred texture) as the supermarket grind is way too fine.
  • Post #15 - June 10th, 2021, 6:00 am
    Post #15 - June 10th, 2021, 6:00 am Post #15 - June 10th, 2021, 6:00 am
    Continuing my streak of Pad Ka-Prao I went 2-parts lamb to 1-part pork and Vietnamese basil, which was the only type on hand. Tasty, though I'm anticipating great things when our Holy basil starts producing.

    I made a large batch of meat, double what I needed for dinner and double the rice, going to make fried rice. I'm also thinking Thai sloppy Joe's, a version of Aroy Thai's Chou-Chi ground pork and filling for Thai omelette.

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  • Post #16 - June 26th, 2021, 1:08 pm
    Post #16 - June 26th, 2021, 1:08 pm Post #16 - June 26th, 2021, 1:08 pm
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    Hot Basil spotted at Argyle Park2Shop today. Not 100% sure it's the same as Holy Basil, but that's my hunch.
  • Post #17 - June 26th, 2021, 2:15 pm
    Post #17 - June 26th, 2021, 2:15 pm Post #17 - June 26th, 2021, 2:15 pm
    turkob wrote:Hot Basil spotted at Argyle Park2Shop today. Not 100% sure it's the same as Holy Basil, but that's my hunch.

    Very cool and yes, I think you're correct. From spiceograpy.com . . .

    spiceography.com wrote:Holy basil brings another flavor profile to the table in that it is intensely spicy, so much so that it is sometimes referred to as hot basil. When consumed raw, holy basil has a slight numbing effect on the tongue that is similar to the effect of Szechuan pepper. The flavor is more like a combination of black pepper and clove than like the sweeter notes of Thai basil. It tends to get even spicier as it is cooked.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #18 - September 15th, 2021, 3:27 am
    Post #18 - September 15th, 2021, 3:27 am Post #18 - September 15th, 2021, 3:27 am
    Pad Ka Prao with holy basil from our garden. Pad Ka Prao is one of my favorite Thai dishes though I've only had the dish with actual holy basil a few times. The difference is subtle but significant. Glad the bride has a green thumb.

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    Pad Ka Prao, count me a Fan!
    Hold my beer . . .

    Low & Slow
  • Post #19 - January 21st, 2024, 9:02 am
    Post #19 - January 21st, 2024, 9:02 am Post #19 - January 21st, 2024, 9:02 am
    Pad Ka Prao, duck egg and Prik nam pla for me. Chicken egg for Ellen. Easy to make. Delicious to eat.

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    Pad Ka Prao, count me a Fan!!
    Hold my beer . . .

    Low & Slow

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