The Thai dish of stir-fried minced meat with holy basil, often topped with a fried egg, is pad kraphao, also written phat kaphrao or pad kaprao.
The dish combines meat—commonly minced pork, chicken, or beef—with garlic, bird’s-eye chilies, fish sauce, soy sauce, and holy basil. It is usually served over steamed rice, and a crispy-edged fried egg called khai dao is a popular addition. Seafood, crispy pork belly, meatballs, mushrooms, and even century eggs can appear in regional or restaurant variations.
Pad kraphao is prized as a quick, inexpensive Thai meal. The ingredients are chopped and stir-fried rapidly over high heat, allowing the basil’s peppery, clove-like aroma to bloom without losing its freshness. In Thailand, ordering “kraphao” generally requires specifying the protein, such as kraphao mu sap for minced pork.
The dish is sometimes confused with pad thai, khao pad, or gai yang. Pad thai is a noodle stir-fry, khao pad is fried rice, and gai yang is grilled chicken. The defining identity of pad kraphao is the hot stir-fry built around holy basil.