Siam Basil — sweet basil pork with rice ($5)!
Siam Basil Chinatown — Thai sweet basil minced pork (pad krapow) with fried egg over rice, cucumber slices. $5.
Lunch — Siam Basil sweet basil pork at $5 in Chinatown. 😋
What was on the plate ($5):
- Pad krapow minced pork with sweet basil + onion + chilli in dark soya.
- Fried egg on rice with crispy edges, partially-runny yolk.
- Cucumber slices on the left.
Siam Basil = SG Thai hawker stall specialising in pad krapow over rice at the budget tier.
Sweet basil vs holy basil — most SG Thai stalls use sweet basil (Thai basil, horapa) instead of the more authentic holy basil (ka prao). Sweet basil has more anise notes, less peppery-clove. Easier to source in SG = standard substitution.
$5 for pad krapow + fried egg + rice = solid hawker pricing. Mall Thai chains charge $8-12 for the same.
Overall: 4 / 5. Basil-chilli profile present, fried egg with runny yolk worked into the rice, cucumber balanced the heat. Budget Thai win. 😋👍🏼
