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Kit Mercer

Basil Instinct — Spicy Thai basil ground beef bowls

Thai basil ground beef with garlic, chili, soy, and fish sauce over rice. A savory bowl with crisp cucumber and no added sugar in the sauce.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings: 2 servings
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Beef
  • 1 lb lean ground beef (95/5 works)
  • 1/2 medium onion or 1/4 jumbo onion, thinly sliced
  • 4 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1–3 Thai chilies OR 1 serrano pepper, finely chopped, adjusted to taste
  • 1 loosely packed cup fresh Thai basil leaves
  • Up to 1 tablespoon neutral oil, as needed for lean beef
Sauce
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons fish sauce
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch (optional)
Rice and cucumber
  • 1 rice-cooker cup dry basmati or jasmine rice (standard 180 mL cup), or amount desired
  • Water according to your rice cooker instructions
  • 1 English cucumber, sliced; use desired amount and reserve the rest
Optional cucumber dressing
  • 2 teaspoons rice vinegar (optional cucumber dressing)
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce (optional cucumber dressing)
  • 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil (optional cucumber dressing)
  • Chili flakes to taste (optional cucumber dressing)
Serving
  • 2 fried eggs (optional; one per bowl)

Method
 

  1. Start plain rice. Rinse and drain rice, add your cooker’s specified water, and cook on the white-rice setting. Leave it plain; the beef supplies seasoning. Rest closed 5–10 minutes after cooking and fluff.
  2. Prepare cucumber. Slice the cucumber and keep chilled. Serve plain, or dress the portion you will eat with rice vinegar, soy sauce, optional sesame oil, and optional chili flakes. No sugar. Keep it separate from the hot skillet.
  3. Mix the sauce. Stir together 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 2 teaspoons fish sauce, 3 tablespoons water, and optional cornstarch.
  4. Brown the beef. Heat a large skillet over medium-high. For 95/5 beef, add a little oil if needed. Spread beef out and leave 2–3 minutes to develop brown patches, then break it up and continue cooking. Spoon off excess fat if needed, retaining enough to cook onion.
  5. Soften onion. Add onion and cook 4–5 minutes, stirring, until softened. Add a little oil if the pan is dry.
  6. Add garlic and chili. Stir in garlic and chopped chili for 30–60 seconds until fragrant; do not burn the garlic.
  7. Sauce the beef. Stir the sauce again, pour it in, and scrape up browned bits. Bubble 1–2 minutes until juicy and lightly coated, not soupy. Ground beef must reach 160°F.
  8. Fold in basil and serve. Turn off heat and fold in Thai basil just until wilted. Taste before adding salt. Spoon over rice with cold cucumber alongside and optional fried egg.

Notes

Timing from the saved recipe: 25 minutes, or your rice cooker cycle if longer. Basil and fish-sauce options: Holy basil is traditional for pad kra pao; Thai basil has a different, anise-like aroma. Fresh ordinary basil is an acceptable but different-tasting fallback; dried basil is not recommended. Freeze spare fresh leaves promptly for later cooked dishes. If omitting fish sauce, replace its 2 teaspoons with 1 teaspoon extra soy sauce (1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon soy total); optional 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire adds depth but is not a Thai equivalent.