Pad kra pao (phàt-gà-phrao)
ผัดกะเพรา
phàt-gà-phrao
The name, part by part — it reads straight through
| Part | Sound | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| ผัด | phàt | stir-fried — tossed hard and fast in a wok over a high flame, dry, seasoned as it goes |
| กะเพรา | gà-phrao | holy basil |
Stir-fry, holy basil. Method first, so this is a stir-fry before it is anything else, and the rice under it is assumed rather than named — which is why the same food appears on boards as กะเพราราดข้าว.
The last slot is left open on purpose: a board reading ผัดกะเพรา with prices beside หมู, ไก่, กุ้ง and ทะเล is one dish and a menu of last slots. Full form ผัดกะเพราหมูสับ adds หมู pork and สับ minced. Note also that กะเพรา is holy basil, a different plant from โหระพา sweet basil — and the fried egg on top is ไข่ดาว, which you have to ask for.
How Thai dish names are built, in full: Thai food, dish by dish.
Minced pork or chicken stir-fried hard with holy basil, chilli and garlic, served over rice, almost always with a crispy fried egg on top. The default lunch of the entire country: when Thais cannot decide, they order this.
Spice hot Properly made it IS spicy; ordering it mild is normal for foreigners.
What is in it Minced pork (หมูสับ, mǔu sàp) or chicken, holy basil (กะเพรา), bird's-eye chilli, garlic, oyster and fish sauce, rice, fried egg (ไข่ดาว, khài daao).
Vegetarian and allergies Meat-centred by definition, but tofu versions (เต้าหู้, dtâo-hûu) are common at made-to-order stalls.
Say it at every level
A1.1 Order it
The full order, memorise it as a chunk: กะเพราหมูสับไข่ดาวครับ (gà-phrao mǔu sàp khài daao khráp), holy-basil minced pork with a fried egg.
A2 Make it yours
Heat control matters here: เผ็ดน้อยครับ (phèt náwy) or ไม่เผ็ดครับ. Want it over rice explicitly: ราดข้าว (râat khâao). Egg runny: ไข่ดาวไม่สุกมาก (khài daao mâi sùk mâak).
B1 Talk about it
The national in-joke: เมนูสิ้นคิด (menuu sîn khít, the "given up thinking" menu), what you order when you cannot decide. Use it about yourself and any Thai will laugh: วันนี้สิ้นคิด สั่งกะเพรา (today I gave up thinking, ordered kra pao).
C1 to native Own it
The purist war: real กะเพรา uses holy basil only, no carrots, no baby corn, no sweet basil. ใส่ถั่วฝักยาวได้ กะเพราห้ามใส่หอมใหญ่ (long beans pass, onion is heresy) is a genuine social-media argument. Knowing which side to take marks you as someone who eats Thai, not tourist, food.
Hungry for the words too? Ordering food phrases