Extremely Spicy Thai Basil Pork
by Phed Mark, Bangkok, Thailand
🌶️🌶️🌶️
Mark Wiens is quite possibly the most famous expat in Bangkok. A food blogger and vlogger, he travels all over the world with the dream job of eating food. Mark Wiens is especially famous for loving spicy food (his catchphrase is "if it's not spicy, I'm not eating"), and when we heard that he had opened up his very own restaurant in Bangkok, we knew that we had to go.
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| basil pork, or pad kaprao, from Phed Mark in Bangkok, Thailand |
The tiny little restaurant, which looks like a very classic Thai street food restaurant, is located just outside of the Ekkamai Bus Terminal, where all great adventures towards Pattaya, Chonburi, or Rayong begin. It serves just one dish: krapao (a spicy dish of minced meat with Thai holy basil served over rice).
The name of the restaurant, Phed Mark, is a pun. In Thai, "phed maak" means "very spicy". "Is the 'very spicy' very spicy?", Pinky asked the lady working the counter. She reassured us that yes, it was, in fact very, very spicy, and suggested that even a Thai person would find "medium" quite hot.
I very bravely ordered a medium-spicy pork basil. I couldn't help noticing that "less spicy" was rated at just one chili, "medium signature" was rated at two chilis, and "very spicy" was rated at not the expected three, but an astounding SEVEN chilis! I shudder to think...
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| takeout from Phed Mark |
Due to COVID-19 dining regulations, we couldn't eat in, we ordered two medium spicy basil pork bowls to go. Riding the BTS Skytrain home, the amazing smell of Thai holy basil and chili kept hitting me, and my mouth was watering by the time we got back home.
They definitely have added some secret ingredients because it's not just normal krapao. The taste was a little different than a standard street corner krapao. We guessed that instead of just throwing a handful of the expected chopped Thai chilis into the wok, they must have created a chili paste of secret spices and herbs to give it a uniquely aromatic and smoky flavor.
The amazing heating and burning sensation bursts in your mouth and lingers in your throat. We recommend that you have a glass of cold milk on hand! While a little expensive for a krapao (the go-to street food dish preferred by Bangkokians), which normally runs for 50-60 baht, it was well worth the price. The bowl was full of premium jasmine rice and an extremely generous portion of lots and lots of basil pork. The dish was topped off with a rich duck egg fried to perfection with a slightly runny yolk. Duck eggs aren't typical in krapao, but we loved the way the richness of the yolk coated the krapao and combined with the smoky spices to create a great flavor.
It was a great meal!
But I can't help but wonder what the seven chili "very hot" krapao would have been like...
What to order
The restaurant serves just one dish: krapao. You can order it in beef or pork (more traditional) in three levels of spiciness. We recommend adding an extra fried egg. |
| menu at Phed Mark, Bangkok, Thailand |
Dietary Notes
🌶️🌶️🌶️ - VERY spicy!!! If you are at all sensitive to spicy foods, order "less spicy".
Price
💲💲 - slightly pricy for krapao in Bangkok, but completely worth every baht for the high-quality ingredients and huge portion.
Basil Pork - ฿105 ($3.50)
Basil Beef - ฿155 ($5.15)
Location
Phed Mark is located just in front of Ekkamai (Eastern) Bus Terminal at Ekkamai BTS Station. The restaurant is open
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| Phed Mark is located next to Ekkamai Bus Terminal |
nice
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