I won’t lie, this recipe of Thai-Style Stir-Fried Chicken is loosely based on the Pad Krapow recipe I follow from Hot Thai Kitchen, one of my favourite sites for learning about Thai food. However, this recipe is also an ode to the fabulous stir fried chicken and pork I have had on the streets of Bangkok, that comes together in less than ten minutes, and for me, I love eating it with a healthy serve of rice and a crispy fried egg on top.
I must admit, this recipe loses something without the fried egg, or ‘Kai Dao‘, that roughly translates from Thai as “star egg”, referring perhaps to the crisped up edges of the egg, or to the oil splattering one might experience in the process of making one of these. I generally start cooking a batch of short-grained rice in my rice cooker around the same time when I start prepping for this recipe, and the food is on the table within the next half an hour. Now, isn’t that amazing? This can be a fabulous weeknight dinner if you want to cook something quickly and also get rid of some of the vegetables in your fridge. For more weeknight dinner ideas, check out my blog posts here and here.
How to make a Thai-Style Kai Dao or Fried Egg
I’ve always been of the opinion that Thai people know how to do certain things right, and Kai Dao is a great example that shows how easy it is to elevate a simple fried egg to a brand new level. You would need a small nonstick pan where you can pour in about enough oil to cover the bottom completely, and ideally, the oil level in the pan should be about 1/2 cm deep. This will then be heated till its hot, but not smoking. The ideal temperature can be ascertained by dipping a chopstick or wooden spatula and seeing little bubbles immediately form around it, indicating the right temperature. Make sure your pan is on medium flame.
Now, once the oil is hot, crack an egg and slowly slide it into the oil. Here’s the thing: as soon as the egg hits the oil, it will splatter and pop, so I suggest taking two hasty steps back immediately and let the egg lie there, untouched for about 20 seconds. Then, take a deep breath (you can do it!), take a slotted spoon, and approach the egg. At this point, if you’ve played your cards right, the edges of the egg would be nice and lightly crisp.
This is where you carefully tilt your pan and pour a bit of the hot oil right on top of the egg, to ensure the top cooks a bit too. I generally flip the egg one and let the egg cook on the other side for 15 seconds before removing it with a slotted spoon and on some paper towels to drain off some of the oil from the egg. In this particular recipe, since we are making two servings, do the same to the other egg.
Prepping the Vegetables for the Thai-Style Stir-fried Chicken
I have to admit – there are no real must-have vegetables in this recipe. As long as they cook quickly, you can add virtually any vegetable. I love using a big handful (about a cup) of greens here, like Pak Choy, Gai Lan, Morning Glory, Spinach, Mustard Leaves, but you can pretty much add a lot of other vegetables, including, but not restricted to, Capsicum, red/yellow bell peppers, carrot, snow peas, long beans (they are SO GOOD), mushrooms, cabbage – the list sort of goes on.
In this particular recipe, I have used a combination of carrot, mushroom, capsicum and cabbage – the total amount of the vegetables should be roughly the same as the chicken – around 100 gm. in my case. This can be altered – many people like adding more vegetables, many add less – its absolutely up to you how much you want to use. However, chop all the vegetables in roughly the same size, so that they cook together, and put the tougher vegetables first, and the ones that cook quickly last.
I also would strongly suggest adding some aromatics – my favourite is a small amount of spring onions, but feel free to add a handful of hot basil for something akin to a krapow, or a couple of tablespoons of cilantro if you like.
Making the Stir-fry Sauce
When you’re making a stir-fry, its all go-go-go, so I always prefer making the stir fry sauce in advance. In this case, the sauce I am making is a very quick and simple one – for the quantity of vegetables and meat used, the ratio is 2 teaspoon light soy sauce, 2 teaspoon fish sauce, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon vinegar, 1 1/2 tablespoon oyster sauce, a pinch of chicken stock powder (optional) and 1 large pinch of white pepper. Stir these together till combined, and set aside. You can also add 1/2 teaspoon cornflour if you like a thicker sauce. I don’t, so I won’t add it to mine.
Cooking Thai-Style Stir-Fried Chicken
Heat 2 tablespoon oil in a large wok over medium-high heat and ensure the bottom of the pan is coated with the oil. Add 4 cloves garlic, chopped roughly, and 1 teaspoon chopped chillies. Once the garlic is fragrant, add 1 tablespoon each chopped spring onion white parts and capsicum. Stir fry for 20 seconds.
Add 100 gm. minced chicken. You can also use minced pork, chopped prawns, or even smashed firm tofu. Toss and break up the chicken with a spatula and fry till the chicken is no longer pink. Add 1 tablespoon julienned carrot. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes, or until chicken is almost cooked.
Add 3/4th cup assorted vegetables (I used mushrooms and cabbage) and stir fry over high heat till the mushrooms and cabbage are wilted. At this point, stir in the stir-fry sauce and toss to coat the chicken and vegetables with it.
Turn the heat to low, and keep on stir-frying till the meat has absorbed nearly all of the liquid. Check for salt. Add a grind of pepper and 1 tablespoon chopped spring onion greens. Take off the heat immediately and serve over plain rice. Top with the fried egg.
This makes for a quick and really satisfying meal – and there are definitely many ways to amp this recipe up. In case you want to see the step-by–step video, check out my Instagram page story highlights for this Thai-Style Stir-Fried Chicken recipe and follow me there.
