Title: Beef stir fried with holy basil
 Categories: Meat
      Yield: 4 Servings
 
      2 tb Chopped garlic
      2 tb Chopped shallots
      2 tb Chopped mixed red & green
           -chilis (prik ki nu)
      1 ts Green peppercorns; whole
    1/4 c  Fish sauce
      2 tb Palm sugar
      1 c  Coarsely chopped holy basil
           -leaves (bai gaprao)
      1 c  Sliced onion (any mixture of
           -'spanish' onions; red
           -onions; shallots and spring
           -onions can be used)
      1 lb Ground or minced beef
     
  This is a quick and easy dish to make. The holy basil has a "hot
  peppery" taste, but if you can't get it then the standard european
  basil is a reasonable substitute, though you should add a little
  freshly ground black pepper in this case.
  
  prik ki nu - called mouse dropping chilis, or dynamite chilis - are
  the best chili to use, but if you can't get it standard Mexican
  habanera chilis, or Scotch Bonnets, will do very well as a substitute.
  
  (my wife chops the beef with a pair of cleavers, and I can't bear to
  watch... you can of course use a meat grinder or a food processor)
  
  The garlic, shallots, peppers and peppercorns are ground together in a
  mortar & pestle or a food processor. In a hot wok, with a little
  cooking oil, briefly stir fry this paste to bring out the flavour and
  aroma. add the remaining ingredients, except the onion, and continue
  to stir until the beef is cooked through.
  
  Add the onions, mix thoroughly, and serve.
  
  Serving: For luncheon pad bai kaprao can be served over plain rice,
  or over a fried egg or egg crepe, placed on the rice. For dinner it
  goes well with the hot and sour tom yum soups, as well as curries and
  other Thai food.
  
  Add the usual Thai condiments (chilis in fish sauce (prik nam pla),
  ground chillis (prik phom) and sugar), as well, perhaps as ground
  black pepper.
  
  Variants: It can be made with chopped pork or chicken, though of
  course the flavours are quite different. You can also experiment with
  replacing the meat with hard tofu marinated in a mixture of sweet
  soy, fish sauce and ground ginger, say, or a vegetable mix of your
  choice (I like to mix broccoli and cauliflower florets, with
  julienned carrots and wing beans), to make a vegetarian pad bai
  kaprao.