KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 8 — There are days when a simple spaghetti aglio olio e peperoncino does the trick: just pasta, fresh garlic, good quality extra virgin olive oil and red hot dried chilli peppers.
Then there are days when this Italian staple is neither spicy nor pungent enough.
The downpours, the days of endless rain, have you reconsidering the merits of simplicity. What use is going back to basics if there isn’t enough heat, if your beautiful breath after this meal wouldn’t ward off vampires and would-be lovers?
More chillies, you decide, would be better. More garlic, absolutely essential.
And while you’re at it, why not up the flavours and the fragrance of this dish? Something worth slaving over a hot stove ought to be scent-sational, you reckon.
Have I the perfect dish for you!
More chillies, yes. More garlic, definitely. But also some savoury, fatty bacon for umami and lovely grease. And a bunch of verdant holy basil to perfume the entire affair. This dish ought to be divine.
Holy basil is known as krapao in Thai and is frequently used in the popular dish, pad krapao. The name pad krapao comes from pad, which means "stir fry” and you can find this rice dish at any street stall in Bangkok.
It’s basically steamed white rice served with stir fried holy basil with some protein, be it chicken, beef, pork or seafood. Vegetarian versions use tofu in place of meat.
One of the most popular protein choices is bacon, which might seem counterintuitive until you realise contemporary Thai cuisine incorporates many Western ingredients.
The Thais have the right idea in this matter: you not only get the crispy bits of meat but also the rendered fat that makes the pasta more flavoursome. Freshly squeezed lime juice at the end ups the scent-sational nature of this dish further.
As our Italian comrades might say, Fantastico!
PASTA WITH BACON AND HOLY BASIL
Just as packets of pad krapao moo sap (rice with stir fried holy basil and minced pork) at the nearest neighbourhood convenience store in Thailand would require only a few minutes in the microwave oven to warm up, this pasta dish reheats really well.
Yes, warming up leftover pasta!
My Italian friends might find this sacrilegious but there is a unique flavour and texture to pasta that was never al dente to begin with being chilled and reheated. Not quite soggy but soft and soothing. This is comfort food.
And don’t we all need more comfort nowadays with so many uncertainties (even after the pandemic of the past two years).
Here is where holy basil offers an additional benefit; according to studies, the very herb that imbues this dish with such intense aromatics also has pharmacological properties to reduce stress and anxiety.
Comforting and stress relieving — you don’t need more reason than that to make this pasta dish right away!
Ingredients
2 litres water
Salt
250g spaghetti, linguine or other long, thin pasta
150g bacon, roughly chopped
1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
10-12 cloves garlic, sliced
12-15 red cili padi (bird’s eye chillies), sliced and gently crushed
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
50g holy basil leaves (approximately 1½ cups)
1 lime, cut into half
Method
Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Season generously with salt. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. You might want to stir the water from time to time to unravel the pasta but mostly just watch the pot to prevent it from boiling over.
About two minutes before the pasta is ready, heat a separate pan over medium-low heat. Add the roughly chopped bacon to the pan.
Sauté the bacon until crispy and golden brown, but before they get too dark or burnt. Transfer the fried bacon to a plate lined with paper towels to drain, leaving as much of the rendered fat in the pan as possible.
Add a tablespoon or two of extra virgin olive oil to the rendered fat in the pan now. Turn the heat up to medium-high and add the garlic and cili padi. Sauté for a few minutes till they have released their aroma.
Around this point, the pasta should have finished cooking. Drain, being mindful to reserve a cup of its cooking water. Add the cooked pasta to the pan of sautéed garlic and chillies, and continue to stir briskly.
Season with the fish sauce, oyster sauce and sugar. Stir well. If the pasta is too dry, add some of the reserved cooking water to thin out the sauce.
Right before serving, return the sautéed bacon to the pan and add the holy basil leaves. Give it one quick stir then remove the pan from the heat. The leaves will wilt in the residual heat.
Garnish with more fresh leaves of holy basil and squeeze fresh juice from the cut limes over the pasta. Serve immediately.
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