One Pot Rice with Minced Pork and Thai Basil

Rice with ground meat mixed with red bell pepper on a plate. fresh basil leaves on top.

5 from 4 votes

One Pot Rice with Minced Pork and Thai Basil

This one pot pad kra pao inspired rice is the perfect meal when you're busy and want a super flavorful meal. Garlic, shallots, Thai basil and chilis are cooked along with minced pork for a savory and spicy flavor.

Prep Time20

Cook Time40

Total Time1

Course: Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine: Asian, Thai

Servings: people

Calories: 653kcal

Author: Dana Rao

Equipment

1 Rice Cooker

Ingredients

meat marinade

0.6 to 0.75 pound ground pork or ground chicken
2 garlic cloves minced
1 small shallot minced
1 thai red eye chili
1 inch ginger (peeled) minced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon neutral oil

rice cooker

1½ cup jasmine rice
1 cup water
marinated meat
½ red bell pepper diced
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce (for color)
1 tablespoon soy sauce

garnish

½ cup thai basil roughly chopped

Instructions

Chop aromatics

Start by mincing garlic cloves, shallot, thai red chili, and 1 inch ginger (peeled). Dice ½ red bell pepper. Set aside.

Marinate meat

In a bowl, marinate the ground pork (or chicken) with minced garlic, shallot, thai red chili and ginger. Add soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, sugar, and oil. Mix well.

Wash rice

Wash the rice in a strainer or bowl until water runs clear. Make sure your strain all the water to ensure that you add the right amount of water in the next step. The water should barely cover the surface of the rice.

Add ingredients in rice cooker

In the rice cooker pot, add your rice, 1 cup water, diced bell pepper, dark soy sauce, and soy sauce. Mix well. Add your marinated meat in small balls in the rice.
Place pot in rice cooker and press the cook button. If you don’t have a rice cooker, use the alternative cooking instructions below.
When the rice is done cooking, add chopped basil. Mix everything together and break up large chunks of meat (if there is any). Enjoy while warm or serve with a sunny side egg.

Video

@cookwithdana
The most flavorful one pot meal to date. Welcome back to episode 6 of my one pot meal series where we make our meals using one pot and as little dishes as possible! This episode, we are making ‘pad kra pao rice’ inspired by the famous thai dish. The rice is savory, sweet and spicy from the thai chilis. For full recipe, google ‘one pot thai rice dana’ or find in my link in bio. In this episode, I tested this recipe in a zojirushirice cooker, cuckoo and instant pot. All of them made delicious rice but with different textures. All are great rice cookers, but Zojirushi wins for best one pot meal! —— #onepotmeals #ricecooker #deliciousfood #asianfood #rice
♬ original sound - cookwithdana

Notes

Substitutions

If you substitute the ground pork with another meat, please ensure it is the same weight. The right proportions ensure that the recipe comes out well (no soggy rice!).
For the thai red chili pepper, you can substitute with a jalapeno for a less spicy version. If you like more spice, feel free to add more thai chili peppers.

Alternative Cooking Instructions

I understand that not everyone has a rice cooker, so some of us might use pots on the stovetop to cook the rice. If that is you, get your medium sized pot ready. Add the rice, according to the recipe directions. Once your pot is filled with rice and all the ingredients…follow the instructions below and you can make your one pot beef and rice!

Heat pot to medium high and cook for 5-7 minutes covered with a lid. The water will start boiling. Make sure to watch over the fire because the water might boil over ◡̈
After 5-7 minutes, turn heat to low and cook for 10 more minutes covered. Do not open the lid during the entire cooking process.
Then turn off the heat and do not open the covered pot. Leave for 20 minutes covered. After the 20-25 minutes is up, mix the rice together and garnish with chopped basil. Hope you enjoy.

Nutrition