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Thai Basil Pork Stir-fry

Top view of Thai basil pork stir-fry in a blue serving bowl.
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Made with tender pork collar meat and a mouthwatering spicy & garlicky holy basil infused sauce, this Thai basil pork stir-fry is easy to make and SO DELICIOUS! It’s ready in under 30 minutes and perfect for busy weeknights!

Ingredients

Scale

For the Pork Marinade:

  • 230 grams / 8 ounces Pork Collar Meat – cleaned and pat-dried, thinly sliced against the grain
  • 1 TSP Light Soy Sauce
  • 1 TSP Fish Sauce
  • ¼ TSP ground White Pepper
  • 1.5 TSP Corn Starch

For the Stir-fry Sauce:

  • 2 TBLS Oyster Sauce
  • 1 TBLS Light Soy Sauce
  • 1 TSP Sweet Dark Soy Sauce
  • 1 TSP Fish Sauce
  • 1 TSP White Sugar

For the Thai Basil Pork Stir-fry

  • 6–8 Garlic cloves – peeled and roughly chopped
  • 4–10 fresh Red Chilies (I used Bird’s Eye, but any small hot red chilies will work), to taste – roughly chopped
  • 2–8 fresh Green Chilies (I used Bird’s Eye, but any small hot red chilies will work), to taste – roughly chopped
  • 2–6 Prik Kee Nu Green Chilies (optional) – halved
  • 1 Large Red Chili – roughly chopped
  • 1/8 TSP (a pinch) Fine Sea Salt
  • 1/3 medium Yellow Onion – thinly sliced, then sliced in half
  • 3 – 4 pieces Baby Corn (optional) – halved lengthwise, then again widthwise
  • 1.5 cups Thai Holy Basil Leaves – washed and pat-dried
  • 2 TBLS Canola Oil
  • ½ TBLS Chili Oil (optional – pure chili oil without seeds/flakes)
  • 250ml / 1 cup Chicken Broth

Instructions

Prep:

  1. Marinate the pork: Clean and pat-dry the pork collar meat. Thinly slice against the grain into bite-sized pieces. Add to a medium bowl, followed by the light soy sauce, fish sauce, ground white pepper, and corn starch. Mix well with a spoon to combine, then set aside.
  2. Make the sauce: Whisk together the oyster sauce, light soy sauce, sweet dark soy sauce, fish sauce, and white sugar in a small measuring cup (for easier pouring) or bowl until evenly combined.
  3. Prepare the fresh ingredients: Roughly chop the garlic, red and green Bird’s eye chilies, and Prik Kee Nu green chilies, and large red chili. Using a mortar and pestle, pound the garlic until bruised (leave some chunky pieces), then transfer to a small bowl. Add all the chilies to the mortar and a pinch of fine sea salt (to help break down the fibers) and pound into a coarse paste. Transfer to another small bowl and set aside. (Note: You can pound the garlic and chilies together into a paste, but I prefer to pound them separate so that are some big garlicky pieces in the final stir-fry dish. If you don’t own a mortar and pestle, crush the garlic with the flat side of your knife and then roughly chop. Finely chop the chilies.) Prepare the yellow onion, baby corn, and Thai holy basil leaves as indicated in the ‘ingredients’ section.

For the Thai Basil Pork Stir-fry:

  1. Sauté the pork: Heat the canola and chili oil (if using) in a large wok over high heat. Once hot, add the marinated pork and immediately spread out the pieces in the wok. Allow to cook for 40 seconds, then stir-fry for 30 seconds until lightly browned but still pink in some parts.
  2. Stir-fry the onion and aromatics: Add the onion and stir-fry for 40 seconds to combine with the pork, then turn the heat down to medium-high and add the smashed garlic and chilies. Stir-fry for 40 seconds until fragrant.
  3. Add the baby corn and sauce: Add the baby corn and stir-fry for 20 seconds to combine. Then pour in the sauce and toss briefly until everything is evenly coated in it.
  4. Simmer: Pour in the chicken broth and stir to combine. Simmer at medium-high heat for a minute.
  5. Add the basil leaves: Stir in the Thai holy basil leaves and simmer for 30 seconds until wilted. Switch off the heat.
  6. To Serve: Transfer to a serving bowl/dish and serve immediately with warm steamed rice.

Equipment

Notes

  1. Make it with less sauce. Traditionally, a splash of water or chicken broth is used in a Thai basil pork stir-fry to increase the amount of sauce. If you’re not a fan of extra saucy dishes, use less chicken broth. Anywhere between ¼-3/4 cup of broth will work well for a less saucy dish.
  2. Adjust spice level to taste. Use less or more Bird’s Eye red and green chilies depending on your heat preference. Prik Kee Nu green chilies are tiny but FIERY hot. They’re listed as optional not only because they are super hot, but also because they can be hard to track down outside of Asia. Feel free to omit them. The large red chili is mild and used mainly for color, not heat. Leave it out if unavailable. Finally, omit the chili oil for cooking if you’d like a milder dish.
  3. Flash freeze the pork to make slicing it thinly easier. Place the pork collar in the freezer for 15 minutes to make it firmer. It will be easier to slice it very thinly because freezing will make it less slippery.
  4. Don’t remove all the fat from the pork collar. Trimming off a little is fine, but don’t remove all of it as it keeps the meat incredibly juicy and tender during cooking.
  5. Storage and leftovers. This dish tastes best when eaten immediately after cooking. However, leftovers can be stored in a sealed airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave on high for 2-3 minutes, stirring once in between, until hot throughout.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://thatspicychick.com/thai-basil-pork-stir-fry/