Thai basil chicken with a crispy fried egg

Pad krapow gai, the Thai street-food favourite: minced chicken stir-fried hot and fast with garlic, chilli and a fistful of basil, piled on rice with a lacy fried egg. On the table in 25 minutes.

Ingredients

• 300 g Jasmine rice
• 20 ml Vegetable oil
• 0.4 Garlic, 4 cloves, finely chopped
• 500 g Chicken mince
• 3 Fresh chillies, red bird's eye, finely chopped (fewer for less heat)
• 150 g Green beans, cut into short lengths
• 30 ml Oyster sauce
• 15 ml Soy sauce
• 10 ml Fish sauce
• 10 g Soft brown sugar
• 30 g Fresh basil, Thai holy basil if you can find it
• 4 Eggs
• 40 ml Vegetable oil

Method

1. Rinse the rice and cook it in salted water. Drain and keep covered.
2. Heat the oil in a wok over a high heat. Fry the garlic for a few seconds, then add the chicken mince and stir-fry, breaking it up, until browned and cooked through.
3. Add the chillies and green beans and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add the oyster sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar and 2 tablespoons of water and toss until the chicken is glossy.
4. Take the wok off the heat and stir through the basil leaves until just wilted.
5. Heat the oil in a frying pan until very hot and fry the eggs, spooning hot oil over them, until the whites are puffed and crispy at the edges but the yolks are still runny.
6. Spoon the chicken over the rice and top each plate with a fried egg.