This recipe has become a staple of many HTK fans! It's one of those dishes that looks too simple to be delicious, but trust me, it's going to surprise you in a big way. Gai pad gratiem is a homey, rustic Thai dish that is a staple for many families, especially those with kids.
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Watch The Full Video Tutorial!
All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video below to ensure success - and if you enjoy the show, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. Thank you!
Ingredients
Here are all the ingredients you'll need to make this recipe. For amounts, check out the full recipe card below.
- Chicken breast or thigh, boneless, skinless, cut into 1-cm thick slices.
- Garlic, chopped
- Oyster sauce, see my post on how to choose good oyster sauce.
- Soy sauce, I am using Thai soy sauce for this recipe, but any kind of soy sauce you have is fine (but not dark soy sauce). Learn more about soy sauce here.
- Golden Mountain sauce, this is another type of soy sauce commonly used in Thai cuisine. It has a flavour similar to Maggi Seasoning, so you can use that instead if you have it, or simply substitute regular soy sauce.
- Fish sauce, see my post on how to choose good fish sauce here.
- Black soy sauce, this is the Thai version of dark soy sauce. This is added mostly for colour, and it is okay to omit it if you don't have it.
- Sugar
- Ground black and white pepper, I like a combination, but on or the other is also fine.
- Cilantro, cut the cilantro sprigs in half, separating parts with leaves from parts without. Chop them and keep the two separate. If you don't like cilantro, green onions will work.
How to Make Thai Garlic Pepper Chicken
Here are all the steps to make this recipe. If this is your first time, I highly recommend watching the video tutorial to ensure success.
- Mix chicken with oyster sauce, soy sauce, Golden Mountain Sauce, fish sauce, white pepper, and black pepper. Set aside while you fry garlic.
- In a small pot or wok, add about ¼-inch of oil and turn the heat on medium-low, adding one test piece of garlic and wait for it to bubble. Once it bubbles, add the rest of the garlic.
- Keeping the bubbling gentle, fry until the garlic turns golden (not brown) and the bubbling has mostly stopped, about 5 minutes.
- Drain garlic from oil, reserving the oil.
- In a wok, add about 2 tablespoon of the garlic oil and heat over high heat. Pour a tablespoon or so of the remaining garlic oil into the marinated chicken and stir to lubricate. (Keep any extra garlic oil in the fridge and you can use it to cook anything else).
- When oil is hot, add the chicken and sugar, then stir until chicken is cooked. You can add a splash of water if the chicken sticks, or if you want more sauce in the final product. You can also add a little bit more black soy sauce if you want a darker colour.
- When the chicken is cooked, stir in half of the fried garlic and chopped cilantro stems, and remove from heat.
- Just before serving, sprinkle over the remaining fried garlic and chopped cilantro leaves. Serve with jasmine rice, but it can also be wonderful when added to other dishes such as pasta, noodles, salads, wraps, and omelettes!
Recipe Card
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Thai Garlic Pepper Chicken (gai pad gratiem)
- Yield: Serves 3-4
Description
A simple and rustic chicken dish that delivers a ton of bold garlicky flavour. A snap to put together, perfect for kids and adults alike, there's a reason why this is a staple for many Thai families!
Ingredients
- 500 g chicken breast or thigh, cut into 1-cm thick slices
- 8 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 Tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp Golden Mountain sauce (or substitute regular soy sauce)
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- Black soy sauce, as needed for colour, about 1 tsp
- 1 ½ tsp sugar
- ¼ tsp ground white pepper
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- 7-8 cilantro stems, chopped
- Water, as needed
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Instructions
Mix chicken with oyster sauce, soy sauce, Golden Mountain Sauce, fish sauce, white pepper, and black pepper. Set aside while you fry garlic.
In a small pot or wok, add the garlic, then add just enough vegetable oil to cover the garlic. Fry garlic over low heat (gentle bubbling) until the garlic turns golden brown and the bubbling has mostly stopped, about 5 minutes. Drain garlic from oil, reserving the oil.
In a wok, add about 2 tablespoon of the garlic oil and heat over high heat. Pour a tablespoon or so of the remaining garlic oil into the marinated chicken and stir to lubricate. When oil is hot, add the chicken and sugar, then stir until chicken is cooked. You can add a splash of water if the chicken sticks, or if you want more sauce in the final product. You can also add a little bit more black soy sauce if you want a darker colour.
When the chicken is cooked, stir in half of the fried garlic and chopped cilantro stems, and remove from heat.
Just before serving, sprinkle over the remaining fried garlic. Serve with jasmine rice, but it can also be wonderful when added to other dishes such as pasta, noodles, salads, wraps, and omelettes!
Karan says
My husband made this dish and it came out so good I told him I'd pay for it in a restaurant.
In fact, I've had a fried fish with a similar sauce in a restaurant and was hoping you could tell us how to manage it.
We love your recipes and have had so much success cooking Thai food at home because of them. Thank you so much.
Pailin Chongchitnant says
There are many dishes that appear on both my website and my book, and they are not exactly the same. This is because Sabai was written with a specific theme in mind: simple weeknight friendly recipes. So many changes were made to simplify recipes. There are also many other reasons that I won't get into, but you can use either one because they taste more or less the same, but if you need help choosing, the one that was written later is always a safe call.
Zhe-Ann Lau says
Tried this recipe and it was great! My toddler loved it and finished his bowl of rice (that’s saying a LOT). So flavorful and incredibly easy to put together on a weeknight. Thanks, Pailin!
Jason says
THANK YOU for this recipe. One of my all time favorite dishes and it’s always seemed so mystifying but it turned out AMAZING
Nicole says
Is there a way to make the chicken more tender? I use chicken breast to make it, and it's a bit dry.
Julie C says
I love this recipe. When I use breast, I velvet the chicken by mixing in 2-3 oz of water per 12-16 oz chicken and let it absorb for 10 minutes, then mix and add 2 tsp of cornstarch and 2 tsp vegetable oil until all is incorporated and let sit for ~15 minutes. Recipe sourced from https://thewoksoflife.com/how-to-velvet-chicken-stir-fry/
Pailin Chongchitnant says
Hi! If it's dry it means you're cooking it too long. That is the only way to avoid dry chicken breast is to not overcook it, just a few minutes in the pan max.
Diana Evans says
It was good! I used monkfruit/erythritol instead of sugar, more nam pla according to my tastes (more like equal amounts of nam pla and maggi), and maggi instead of soy sauce. Used black pepper because I don't like the white pepper I get in the states, so that did make a difference in taste, but not by much at all. And probably 12 garlic cloves. Nom. Khup Khun Ka!
Jay says
Loved it, thanks for the recipes. I want to know, how to make a bit more spicy 🌶?
Adam The HTK Minion says
Hi Jay! Just add chilies or chili flakes and you're good to go 🙂
Amy Wimmer says
Quick and easy, and very tasty.
Bethany says
I made this for dinner tonight and it tasted like I was back in Thailand! So good!