Step by step

Method

5 steps

1. 1

   Stir 2 tablespoons fish sauce, 1 tablespoon light soy sauce, 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, 1 teaspoon brown sugar, and ¼ cup water in a small bowl until the sugar dissolves. Set next to the stove.

2. 2

   Heat 2 tablespoons neutral oil in a large skillet over medium-high until shimmering. Add 5 finely chopped garlic cloves and 2–4 thinly sliced Thai chiles (or 1 red jalapeño); stir 20–30 seconds until fragrant — pale gold garlic is good, brown-black is bitter.

3. 3

   Add 1 lb ground pork and break it into small crumbles. Cook until browned and no longer pink, 5–7 minutes — you want little browned bits, not gray steamed clumps. If the pan floods with liquid, keep cooking until most of it evaporates.

4. 4

   Pour in the sauce and toss until the pork looks glossy and the liquid reduces slightly, about 2 minutes. It should coat the meat, not puddle.

5. 5

   Kill the heat. Fold in 2 packed cups Thai basil leaves until just wilted and peppery-smelling, 20–30 seconds. Spoon over hot jasmine rice with lime wedges. You want savory-spicy crumbled pork with fragrant wilted basil — not greasy gray pork or blackened bitter herbs.