Featuring fried tofu stir fried with Thai chilis, holy basil, and two different types of soy sauces, this vegan version of Pad Krapow is just as addictive as the original.
Have you ever found something so good you just want to share it with the world? Yes?
Well, then you know exactly how I feel about Pad Kra Pao. This stir fried dish with holy basil amazes me. It has such a unique taste, owing in large part to the distinctive peppery, almost licorice-like flavor of holy basil, but also to the spice from the Thai chilis and the subtle sweetness from the dark soy sauce. Pad Kra Pao is unlike anything else I've tasted, and as such, I always feel compelled to share it with others.
My lovely coworkers bore the brunt of this food sharing last year. They had never tasted holy basil before, so of course I had to initiate them! I brought in Chicken Stir Fried with Holy Basil with jasmine rice for everyone to sample over lunch. One of my coworkers, though, was vegan and I couldn't leave her out of the holy basil experience! So the night before, I set out to adapt my Pad Krapow recipe for her, using tofu instead of chicken and only thin and dark soy sauces for flavoring.
The Original Pad Krapow
The original version of Pad Krapow is a simple stir fry dish made with a protein of your choice, holy basil, garlic, Thai chilis, and some salty seasoning sauces. It also sometimes includes green beans, and westernized versions also typically add in other vegetables as well. In Thailand, Pad Krapow is very often served with a fried egg on top as well as a side of fish sauce with Thai chilis to help season the egg.
Veganizing Pad Krapow
The original Pad Krapow includes several animal products -- the meat and fried egg, of course, but also some of the seasoning sauces. I typically use oyster sauce to flavor my Pad Krapow, and some other recipes I've seen use fish sauce as well.
Substituting tofu for the meat was an easy choice. I initially made the dish by stir frying the raw tofu with the other ingredients, but it didn't have quite the right texture. For my next attempt, I pan fried the tofu in strips before chopping it into coarse pieces, and found this worked much better.
The fried egg and fish sauce/Thai chili condiment can easily be omitted from the dish while still keeping the original taste of the holy basil stir fry intact.
And as for the seasoning sauces, a combination of two Thai soy sauces (thin soy sauce and dark soy sauce) works pretty well to recreate the salty umami flavor of the original dish.
This weekend, using the last of my holy basil from the market, I made both the vegan and chicken versions of Pad Kra Pao. I served them side by side to the boyfriend. And fortunately, they both got big thumbs up from him. Whether you're vegan or not, I hope you'll give this Pad Krapow with Tofu a try!
Recipe
Holy Basil Stir Fry with Tofu | Vegan Pad Krapow | ผัดกะเพราเต้าหู้
Ingredients
- 3 cloves garlic chopped finely
- 3 red Thai chilis chopped finely
- 1 red jalapeno cut into thin strips or slices
- 1 cup firm tofu pan fried and then chopped
- ½ cup holy basil leaves
- 1 Tablespoon thin soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
Instructions
- Slice approximately 8-10 ounces of tofu into thin slices. Blot dry with a paper towel and then pan fry in oil over medium-high heat. Once the tofu is golden brown on both sides, remove from pan and chop into coarse, bite-sized pieces. You should have approximately 1 cup.
- Chop the garlic and Thai chili finely.
- Heat a wok over high heat and then add some oil. Stir fry the garlic and chili until the garlic is golden brown.
- Add 1 cup of the chopped tofu, 1 Tablespoon of red jalapeno slices, and both soy sauces. Stir fry together until the tofu is well coated with the sauces and the jalapenos are cooked through.
- Add the holy basil leaves, mix into the dish, and quickly take the pan off the heat. Serve with jasmine rice and enjoy!
Phyllis Zboril
This was wonderful! I've been a vegetarian for nearly a year, but I miss my kai gaprow. This was better than I imagined it could be. My Lao husband loved it, too. I look forward to trying some of your other recipes!
Rachel
So glad you guys liked it, Phyllis!
Carla @ Gluten Free Recipe Box
Looks yummy! - and I can make this gluten-free, as well.
By the way, I see that you're the Answers.com thai food expert. I'm the gluten free expert. Nice to meet you!
Rachel
Nice to meet you too, Carla! Thanks for stopping by!
Eileen
Hooray for totally vegan Thai food! I am definitely going to have to try this one out. It looks like a trip to go get different kinds of soy sauces is in order... 🙂