Stir Fried Pork and Basil (หมูผัดพริก)

We, Thais, have known this dish since before weaning off nappies as it is such a common street food and honestly I didn’t think to cook it myself until I watched the re-run of Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey  programme when he visited Asia and cooked this dish whilst in Thailand.

And thanks to Mr. Stein for giving me some inspiration. This dish has become quite a regular on our dining table when I cook Thai and Bob likes this dish pretty much. This is how I cook mine:

You will need:
250 grams pork, sliced
3-4 cloves of garlic, smashed and chopped
½ onion, chopped lengthwise
½ red or yellow capsicum (bell pepper), sliced
1 red chilli, sliced (de-seeded if you don’t like it hot)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon sweet dark soy sauce (if you don’t have it, just substitute with a teaspoon of sugar)
1 tablespoon water 
A handful of basil leaves (Italian basil will do fine)
Oil for frying
Ground white pepper

Marinate pork strips in 1 tablespoon soy sauce, pepper and a little bit of oil and set aside.Mix the rest of the sauces together with water or stock in a jug.

Heat oil in a wok on medium high heat, fry garlic until fragrant – add pork and stir fry for a few minutes. Add oinion and capsicum, fry a little bit further then add sauce mixture. Taste and add more seasoning if needed. Add chiili and basil, fry briefly and remove from heat. Serve hot with rice.