Recipes

Pad Kra Pao

Published: 

Pad Kra Pao
Portions
2

Ingredients

  • 200g ground pork
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 2 thai chili
  • 1 long red chili
  • 1/2 shallot
  • 1 stalk of long bean
  • 1/2 palm sugar disc
  • 1 tbsp light soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 1 tbsp water
  • 1/2 cup thai basil
  • 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce (optional)
  • 2 portions of Jasmine rice

For the Prik nam pla

  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 1 thai chili
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • lime

Directions

  1. In a small bowl, combine 1 clove of thinly sliced garlic, 1 thinly sliced Thai chili, 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, and a squeeze of lime. Mix well and set aside, this is the Prik Nam Pla for the fried egg later.
  2. Use a mortar and pestle to lightly mash the Thai chili, long red chili, and garlic. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, finely chop these ingredients instead. Add in some minced shallots and set aside. In another bowl, stir together the light soy sauce, fish sauce, water, and oyster sauce and finely chopped palm sugar, then set that aside as well.
  3. Cut the long bean at a 45 degree angle into 1-inch pieces.
  4. In a cold stainless-steel pan, heat it over high until it’s piping hot (you can do the water-droplet test—sprinkle a little water in the pan and it should dance and bounce around). Let the pan cool slightly, then add 2 tablespoons of neutral oil. Add the ground pork, spread it into an even layer, and leave it untouched for about a minute, or until the bottom starts to caramelize. Continue frying for another 1–2 minutes until the pork is almost cooked. Push the pork to one side of the pan, add 1 tablespoon of oil, then add the chili-garlic mixture and fry until fragrant.
  5. Add in the long bean and stir fry for another minute.
  6. Add the soy sauce mixture (start with about two-thirds to check the saltiness, since it can vary depending on the brands of soy sauce and fish sauce). Add a tiny splash of dark soy sauce if you’d like to adjust the color. Stir-fry for a few minutes until the pork is fully cooked and the sauce has slightly thickened and coats the pork evenly. Stir in the basil, add a squeeze of lime, mix well, then turn off the heat and set it aside.
  7. For the fried egg, heat the pan the same way as before, and make sure to add a generous amount of oil—the crispier the edges, the better. Cook the egg until the whites are set but the yolk is still runny.
  8. To assemble, place a portion of white rice on the plate, add half of the pad kra pao beside it, lay the fried egg on top, and spoon some prik nam pla over the egg.