Pad Kra Pao

There are hundreds of weeknights in a year. That’s a lot of dinner! Test kitchen editor Kendra Vaculin is here to help. In her series Speedy Does It, she shares whoa-worthy meals you can get on the table like *snaps fingers* that.

Twenty minutes are all you need to bring together this spicy, umami stir-fry dish, chock-full of fragrant basil. We love to whip up this pad kra pao as a fast weeknight dinner in the summer, when big farmers market bunches of basil are at their least expensive.

Beloved in Thailand, traditional pad kra pow can be made using any kind of ground meat, so feel free to swap in ground chicken or ground beef if you’d prefer that to minced pork. Similarly, any basil will do. Classically, peppery holy basil is used (look for it at an Asian grocery store and farmers markets between June and September), but all varieties, from Italian basil (a.k.a sweet basil) to anise-y Thai basil, pair nicely with the heat of the chiles. Speaking of, if you can’t find Thai chiles, Fresno chiles also work. (Something like serranos would not deliver the same level of heat or pop of color.)

A crispy egg on top may be the best part of this easy Thai dish. Don’t be afraid to go hard on your fried egg—the lacy edges add a delightful textural dimension. To ensure the top of the whites are set but the yolk remains runny, tilt your pan and spoon some of the hot oil that pools at the side over the whites to cook them.