This week’s The Wok dish was Thai-Style Stir-Fried Ground Pork with Basil. This one is not unfamiliar to me as I already have a Chicken with Holy Basil recipe from Rachel Cooks Thai that we really like. I also have a Beef with Holy Basil recipe from David Thompson’s Thai Food cookbook, but I haven’t made that one yet. All that to say this is a known dish to me, as opposed to some of the other recipes I’ve made so far from The Wok.

Lopez-Alt’s recipe admittedly breaks from “tradition” with the addition of long beans, Chinese dark soy sauce, and oyster sauce. Both of my other recipes call for Thai dark soy sauce/black soy sauce, but that is a very different sauce from Chinese dark soy sauce, and the Rachel Cooks Thai recipe also calls for oyster sauce. I understand that Thai cuisine is highly accommodating for tastes, so it’s not a big deal to have various adjustments.

Lopez-Alt also calls for hand-minced lean pork “for best results”, but also allows for ground pork for ease. I opted for the suggested hand-mincing for my first try at this recipe.

The Wok version calls for making a rough paste with the garlic, shallots, and chilies, which contrasts with the Rachel Cooks Thai version which only chops them, but is consistent with David Thompson’s recipe. After that it’s a straightforward stir-fry: stir-fry the aromatics, stir-fry the protein, add the sauce, remove from heat and toss in the basil.

Confusingly, the directions completely omit when to add the long beans. From the accompanying pictures, they appear to go in between the aromatics and protein. According to Kenji, they should be added after the pork is browned.

I made it with the optional long beans, dark soy sauce, and oyster sauce and served it with the optional nam pla prik and extra-crispy fried eggs. I figured if I’m making Lopez-Alt’s version of this, I’m going to make it all the way.

I thought the end result was fine. I have certainly enjoyed eating the leftovers in the fridge. I think in the future I’ll use ground pork to save myself the time, but also because the hand-minced lean pork had a certain toughness to it that I didn’t enjoy. Even with those adjustments, I think I prefer the Rachel Cooks Thai version. My wife enjoyed it, my son tried it but declared that it was too spicy, and my daughter did not try it at all.

I am cooking my way through J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s The Wok cookbook. Read more about it.