As with his irreverent needlework, artist Richard Saja is self-taught when it comes to making the fiery Thai food he likes for lunch in the studio. For a break in the photo shoot for this piece, Saja prepared pad kaprow gai, spicy chicken with holy basil and chilis, best enjoyed with a cold beer. It took him six years to perfect the recipe. The secret: cook the three elements separately. 

 
Pad Kaprow Gai (Chicken with Holy Basil and Chilies)

For the rice: 

1 cup white jasmine rice (broken preferred)

2 cups coconut milk

Put rice and milk in a pot and cook until all liquid is absorbed. Jasmine rice cooks quickly, especially the broken variety, so set aside covered and fluff with a fork before serving.

For the stir-fry:
3 glugs olive oil 
2 tsp Maldon sea salt

1/2 lb mushrooms (shiitake mushrooms preferred because they stand up to a stir-fry)
2 large or 3 small shallots, roughly chopped
6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
20 to 25 small red bird’s eye chili peppers, stems removed 
1 tbsp crushed red chili flakes (Richard’s favorite variety comes from El Potrero Trading Post in Chimayo, NM)
1 bunch Thai purple basil leaves 

In a large pot or wok add 2 glugs of olive oil, sea salt, and mushrooms and sauté on medium flame for about 3 to 4 minutes each side, until they’re barely browned around the edges. Remove with a slotted spoon to a bowl and set aside. Add 1 glug olive oil and on a very low flame cook shallots, garlic, chilies and crushed red chili flakes for 20 to 30 minutes. 

For the chicken:
1 glug olive oil

2 lb ground chicken
4 tbsp fish sauce (I like Red Boat or Pufina Patis)
3 tbsp coconut sugar syrup (substitute the same amount of any kind of brown sugar if necessary)

In a separate pot, pour glug of olive oil in a pot and add chicken. Break apart as it cooks down and add fish sauce and sugar and toss together. When meat is cooked through, remove from heat.  

Using a slotted spoon, add cooked chicken and sautéed mushrooms and basil leaves to shallot-oil mixture. Stir-fry on a high flame until basil leaves have wilted and mixture is heated through. 

Divide coconut rice between 4 bowls, top with chicken mixture, garnish with basil leaves and serve.

STORY BY STEPHEN TREFFINGER / PHOTOGRAPHY BY TARA DONNE / RECIPE AND FOOD BY RICHARD SAJA