Phad Thai & Basil pork rice ($11)!
A Hougang Thai hawker lunch: phad thai with prawns, peanuts and chilli flakes, and basil pork rice (krapao) with a sunny-side egg. $11.
Lunch at a Hougang Thai hawker with BB: phad thai and basil pork rice (krapao), $11 total ($5 + $6). 😋
What was on the table:
- Phad thai: stir-fried flat rice noodles with prawns, bean sprouts, scrambled egg and firm tofu, with crushed peanuts and dried chilli flakes on the side
- Basil pork rice (krapao mu): minced pork stir-fried with Thai basil and bird’s eye chilli over rice, topped with a sunny-side egg, with a carrot and bean sprout side salad
Getting one noodle dish and one rice dish to share is the right way to do Thai. The phad thai was nicely tossed rather than drowned in sauce, the rice noodles springy with that classic tamarind sweet-sour balance, sweet prawns and soft tofu through it. Squeeze the lime, scatter the peanuts, add chilli flakes to taste and stir it all in, and it comes alive.
The basil pork rice was the punchy one, and the basil mattered: this was proper Thai holy basil with its peppery, almost aniseed kick, not the milder sweet basil that loses the character. The minced pork was well seasoned and a little fiery from the bird’s eye chilli, and breaking the runny egg yolk over the rice ties it all together. The cool carrot and bean sprout salad balances the heat.
Two dishes, two very different flavours, and good hawker value at $11 when the mall Thai chains charge $20 to $30 for the same.
Overall: 4.2 / 5. 😋👍🏼 Tangy phad thai and a properly basil-forward krapao with a runny egg. Would re-order.
