Thai Basil Stir-Fry Pork with Rice and Egg It is not everyday that I find myself at Newton Circus Food Centre for food — in fact, this is my very first time stepping foot into this particularly food centre. After all, Newton Circus Food Centre is rather notorious for questionable business ethics of some of the hawkers some time back; not that sort of place that I would find myself in until noticing Krapow Boy’s opening there via social media, a stall which is run by young hawkerpreneurs.
Specialising only in a single style of Thai cuisine, the stall serves up the Thai Basil Stir Fry with a variety of meats and seafood that patrons can choose from — think meat choices such as Pork, Chicken and Beef, to seafood choices such as Lala, Prawn and Seafood, with an option of Tofu for vegetarians/vegans. Patrons also get to customise the level of spiciness (between three levels, or none) for the Thai Basil Stir Fry here. One can also find a limited variety of sides here, such as grilled pork jowl, crispy pork skin, and deep fried garlic pork.
On first look, we already loved how the Thai Basil Stir-Fry Pork with Rice and Egg is the stir-fried roll dry here — not relying on any sauce for flavour, which is pretty unlike the variants of the same dish that other establishments tend to serve up. That being said, the minced pork still retains its tenderness here, but what we really liked is how Krapow Boy’s variant of the dish perfumes so heavily of basil throughout the entire portion that made it so on point. Opting for Level 2 spiciness, it provides a fiery kick of just the right notch for us — spicy enough to tickle the taste buds, but not uncomfortably so for those who can deal with moderate levels of spiciness. Also liked how there was ample basil, minced pork, and long beans that comes with the Thai Basil Stir-Fry Pork with Rice and Egg here too, which gives a good balance of texture from the bouncy meat, to the crunchy vegetables against the rice. The sunny-side-up, whilst being less than perfect in terms of aesthetic, does come with creamy molten egg yolk that one can choose to mix up with rice for a silkier texture.
With a name like theirs, one would expect them to do the Thai Basil Stir Fry pretty well — after all, that is also almost the only item that they serve up. Glad to say that we left pretty impressed by the Thai Basil Stir-Fry Pork with Rice and Egg that they served up — punchy notes of basil with a balanced proportion of other ingredients for a mix of texture and flavour that works oh-so-well; one of the variants of the commonly-found dish that left an impression with us. While Newton Circus Food Centre is likely a spot that we are unlikely to return to, perhaps Krapow Boy’s might be just the stall that we would be revisiting if we are ever here; that Thai Basil Stir-Fry Pork with Rice and Egg will be something that we will be craving for …