Thai basil chicken bowls

If you ever find yourself struggling to decide where to go on vacation, let me make things easy for you. Go to Thailand. Sure, it’s a pain to get to being on the other side of the world and all, but that really shouldn’t stop you. They have these things called airplanes now that make the whole experience way more manageable.

You can go to Thailand for the beaches, the amazing resorts, the wildlife, the culture… Yeah, those are all top notch reasons. But I will not judge you in the least, in fact, I may just applaud you if your main reason for visiting Thailand is the food.

It’s so freaking incredible. We stayed at the Pimalai Resort and Spa that began every day with this insane breakfast buffet with a huge range of western and eastern food choices along with all the fresh fruit I could ever want. I’d start my day with eggs cooked every which way, Thai noodles, dumplings, fried rice, bread with fresh jams, potatoes, and plates and plates of fruit. I’m not exaggerating when I say I find myself still thinking about that buffet on a near-daily basis.

The middle of the day would always include at least a half a dozen spring rolls and a smoothie or two. It’s a little depressing to think about sometimes because I can’t imagine how life could possibly get any better than the days where I smoothies and spring rolls on a tropical island were just a normal thing.

At night, we would head into this small town on the island of Koh Lanta and somehow the six of us (none of us with any sort of decision-making skills) would decide where we wanted to eat. One night we had burgers in a restaurant that had more hammocks than chairs. Another night I had drunken noodles while watching cats and kids play in the back of the restaurant. Another night I had the best Pad Thai and passion fruit smoothie of my life at Phad Thai Rock N Roll while listening to classic rock music. It was just as awesome as it sounds.

The best passion fruit smoothie

The best Pad Thai

The best mango sticky rice

The last night we were there, the six of us went off the beaten path a bit and found ourselves at a restaurant called the Chill Grill House where we were lead up the stairs into a tree house. We had the second story all to ourselves where we reminisced about the trip and just enjoyed every minute of our last night together. Especially when the food started to arrive. SO many spring rolls!! I was a happy camper. And then our entrees came, and my life changed forever. Jackson and I ordered the same thing (because we totally don’t already give people more than enough of a reason to think we’re siblings instead of husband and wife): Thai Basil Chicken, or Gai Pad Krapow. We both looked up at each other after the first bite. We had stumbled upon something truly sacred.

Ground chicken mixed with peppers, Thai basil, and covered in a slightly sweet, salty and satisfying sauce. All over a bed of rice and topped with a fried egg. It was our kind of meal.

When we returned to reality, I was going through spring roll withdrawal. I figured attempting to make Thai food would help, and Gai Pad Krapow seemed like a good place to start. Turns out, this incredibly delicious dish is also incredibly easy to make. And to make things even better, it’s packed with protein and such a good choice for a healthy weeknight meal.

Jackson got me a set of stone bowls for my birthday this year, the kind of bowls you find in fancy Asain restaurants that they serve sizzling Bibimbap in. I’m not the kind of person to have anything in my kitchen that can’t be used for 101 things, but these bowls are the exception. We use them every week and they completely revolutionalize (even though they are thousands of years old) rice dishes. you brush them lightly with oil before piling in rice and toppings then heat it up on the stove for a few minutes until you hear a sizzle. That means the rice all along the sides of the bowl is getting crispy as heck. I would 100% recommend getting yourself a pair.

So I made this dish in these bowls and it was awesome. The rice stayed piping hot and was somehow crispy and saucy. It was perfection. But if you don’t have stone bowls, regular bowls will work just fine. You’ll just feel a little less cool.

Let me note real quick that this is NOT super traditional Gai Pad Krapow. I am in no way qualified to ever share an authentic Thai recipe. However, all the ingredients in this recipe can be found at your local grocery store, which is a huge plus. Thai holy basil is not easy to find, let me tell you. So we settle for normal basil. In my opinion, it still works. And another huge bonus, this dish comes together in under a half an hour. Also, if you haven’t noticed by now, I am not a fan of spicy foods. If you are one of the brave ones, feel free to add spicy peppers to the dish.

This dish just may become a staple in your house. I can say from experience that knowing it’s Thai Basil Chicken day always works as excellent motivation to get out of bed in the morning.

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Thai basil chicken

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings 2 hungry people

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked brown rice
• 10 oz ground chicken
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 2 large handfuls basil, chopped
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp honey
• juice from 1 lime
• 2 eggs
• oil, for frying

Instructions

1. Cook rice according to package instructions.

2. Meanwhile, heat a small amount of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Add peppers and cook for a few minutes before adding chicken. 

3. Break apart chicken while cooking and add fish sauce, soy sauce, honey, and lime juice. Once the chicken is cooked through, remove from heat and stir in basil. 

4. Fry eggs until over hard. The yolk should not be runny. 

5. Divide rice between two bowls. Top each bowl with half the chicken mixture and an egg. Enjoy hot.