Let’s Talk Basil

We’ve been having so much fun developing a new range of Ice Kitchen stir-fry pastes, using all the frozen innovation we’re known for to create the basis for boldly flavourful, naturally fresh meals.

One of these is our Thai Chilli Basil (Pad Kra Pao) stir-fry paste, which lets you whip up a comforting spicy, garlicky, reliable stir-fry in 20 minutes, using your choice of protein and veg and topped with a crispy fried egg.

Kra Pao (spelled in a variety of ways) translates at holy basil, a peppery basil with a slight clove-kick. However, we don’t include this in our paste.

Here’s why.

The basil works best wilted into the stir-fry at the last moment. Frying it at the start of the meal prep would rob it of the fragrant pungency that defines this dish. So, we pack the paste with the perfect balance of all the other flavours and leave you to add the fresh basil for that final flourish.

Holy basil is quite different from sweet Thai basil and we have it on good authority that Italian basil is a closer alternative, which is great because it’s widely available and even easily grown on the kitchen windowsill!