Instructions: The garlic, shallots, peppers and peppercorns are ground together in a mortar and pestle or a food processor. In a hot wok, with a little cooking oil, briefly stir-fry this paste to bring out the flavor and aroma. Add the remaining ingredients and continue to stir until the chicken is cooked through.

Serve over Thai jasmine rice, or over a fried egg or egg crepe, placed on the rice. For dinner it goes well with the hot and sour tom yum soups, as well as curries and other Thai food.

Add the usual Thai table condiments as well as ground chilis and sugar. You might add ground black pepper also.

Variants: It can be made with chopped pork, or even a chopped beef base, though of course the flavors are quite different. You can also experiment with replacing the meat with hard tofu marinated in a mixture of sweet soy, fish sauce and ground ginger, soy, or a vegetable mix of your choice (we like to mix broccoli and cauliflower florets with julienned carrots and wing beans), to make a vegetarian pad bai-gaprao.

Comments: This is a quick and easy dish to make. Thai basil, "holy basil" has a "hot peppery" taste, but the standard American basil is a reasonable substitute if you add a little freshly ground black pepper to it.

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