Thai Basil Pork Belly!
I and my husband, Jacob, LOVE LOVE LOVE Thai basil. It is one of our favorite Thai dishes. When I went to Phuket, Thailand, with my nephew, Thai Basil was the first street food we tried besides Thai Grilled Pork Belly Salad. I shared the Thai Grilled Chicken Salad recipe inspired by it, so definitely check it out too!
I also have shared my Thai Basil recipe a few years ago with ground meat (you can use pork, chicken, beef, or plant-based meat/tofu!) and Thai Basil Shrimp Fried Rice. If you want to see it, check it out down below!
When we had the Thai basil in Phuket, it was the first time I saw Thai basil dishes with pork belly. Also, it was the first time I saw this dish with green beans. I loved every detail of what we had on the Pa Tong beach, and I really really miss the taste & atmosphere…
It was SO HOT (almost no point in doing makeup, it’s going to wash away by humidity in 15 minutes). My beer was warm and so loud by all the tourists & local people…
Too bad we can’t travel nowadays, so I had to re-create the flavor I loved at home. I can’t be on the Pa Tong beach to eat this, but what’s better than eating this authentic, delicious Thai dish at the comfort of home.
My Thai Basil Pork Belly is darker than the one I had in Thailand because I made my pork belly a lot more crispy. But it’s up to you how crispy you cook your pork belly! And yes, you can make this dish with chicken or beef if you prefer! 😉
Are we ready to cook Thai Basil Pork Belly? Let’s get started!!
The first thing is first, marinate pork belly.
Cut pork belly into bite sizes. Then place in a mixing bowl and add 1 tsp Thai thin soy sauce, 1 tsp Thai fish sauce, 1/4 tsp black pepper, and 1 tsp lime juice. Mix well and let it marinate for 20 minutes and meanwhile, prepare other ingredients.
By the way, you could use regular soy sauce and fish sauce in your kitchen, and I just prefer to use Thai thin soy sauce and Thai fish sauce when I cook Thai cuisine. 🙂
Chop 4 cloves garlic finely and also chop 1 to 3 Thai chili. Adjust Thai chili to your taste- you can also omit if you want it to be mild.
Also, pick Thai basil leaves as much as you wish! I love basil so much, so add tons of them but adjust to your taste.
I used Thai basil, but traditionally, holy basil is what is used in this dish. I couldn’t find one, though. You can also use regular basil, and it will work great too!
Heat a wok or a large skillet over high heat and add cooking oil. Add marinated pork belly and cook until pork belly is crispy about 5 to 6 minutes.
You will see lots of fat melted in the wok, so turn off the heat and remove most of the pork fat but leave 1 tbsp in the wok. (I usually pour into my grease jar.)
Place the wok back to over high heat, then add chopped garlic and chili. Stir fry until you smell the aroma, about 30 seconds. Add 6 oz green beans, 2 tbsp Thai Thin soy sauce, 2 tbsp Thai fish sauce, and 3 to 4 tbsp palm sugar. Stir everything together, about 2 minutes.
Instead of palm sugar, you can use honey.
My palm sugar softened like this because I added some water and let it soften for a few days. 🙂
Oh, if you want to serve Thai Basil with a fried egg (highly recommend!), go ahead and start to fry an egg now!
Stir in basil and turn off the heat immediately. Serve with freshly cooked warm jasmine rice, fried egg, and lime to your taste.
Enjoy!
Thai Basil Pork Belly
- Total Time: 28 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
For Pork Belly
- 1 lb pork belly or shoulder, cut into bite size
- 1 tsp Thai thin soy sauce
- 1 tsp Thai fish sauce
- 1/4 tsp black or white pepper
- 1 tsp lime juice
For Stir Fry
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 to 3 Thai chili, chopped
- 6 oz long green beans (you can substitute with any green beans)
- 2 tbsp Thai thin soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Thai fish sauce
- 3 to 4 tbsp palm sugar or honey
- Handful Thai basil, holy basil or sweet basil leaves
Instructions
- Combine pork belly, 1 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp fish sauce, 1/4 tsp black pepper and 1 tsp lime juice in a mixing bowl. Let it marinate for 20 minutes and meanwhile, prepare other ingredients.
- Heat a wok or a large skillet over high heat and add cooking oil. Add marinated pork belly and cook until pork belly is crispy, about 5 to 6 minutes. You will see lots of fat melted in wok, so turn off heat and remove most of pork fat but leave 1 tbsp in wok. (I usually pour into my grease jar.)
- Place wok back to over high heat then add chopped garlic and chili. Stir fry until you smell aroma, about 30 seconds. Add green beans, soy sauce, fish sauce and palm sugar. Stir everything together, about 2 minutes.
- Stir in basil and turn off heat immediately. Serve with freshly cooked warm jasmine rice, fried egg and lime to your taste. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 8 mins
7 comments
Looks amazing! Can I ask what wok you are using and if you recommend it? Thank you!
Amazing! Also loved the song you used in this video. May I know the title of the song?
Such an easy and flavorful recipe. My husband and I both loved it. Perfect for a quick weeknight meal .
Love the Youtube channel –
Love this recipe – nice summery flavours in a cold and wet wintery Ireland
Thank you so much for your cooking programs and delightful positive energy
You really are a ray of sunshine and positive energy
I made this and it was bomb!!! Thank you for such a delicious meal! Hubby and I gobbled this up! I will save this recipe to be in our weekly rotation!
This dish is fantastic! Kid-approved, too. 🙂
I made this because I had a lot of thai basil and it is good. I didn’t put any peppers in this time but will next time because it just balance the salty and sweet. Lol.