I haven’t
mentioned about my three weeks vacation to my homeland, Thailand, have I? Well, there were so many things and so much
to talk about my trip. But if I start
talking about it, there would never be an end of the story. Not that I don’t want to share, but I can
tell you this. I ate a lot! I also gained a few pounds! And I just don’t care! Would you worry about gaining weight on your
vacation? Nah. I don’t think so! Anyway, I had an AMAZING and MEMORABLE time
with my family that will last forever.
Back to LA, I’m
trying to settle down with my normal life without my family around except the
hubby and my two dogs. It feels good to be home though I’m still missing the
real authentic Thai food especially from the street vendors. They are the BEST!
Whenever I
feel a little homesick, I usually cook something that will remind me of “home.” Pad Prik Khing is one of many Thai dishes I make
more often. This dish is quite
well-known and popular among Thai people.
It absolutely contains some heat from the chili paste but not too overly
spicy as you might think when you see the picture.
The prik khing chili paste can be made from
scratch but why bother when it can be purchased conveniently at Asian
supermarkets. I usually use the same
Thai brand – MaeSri that comes in a
small four ounces container, and it can be used twice if making for s few
people. However, the chili paste can be
added more or less depending on your liking of spicy. The dish has the balance
flavors of saltiness and sweetness, and the unique scent and taste from the
kaffir lime leaves. And this dish is
needed to be served with steamed jasmine rice. Pad prik khing takes little times to cook as
long as all the ingredients are prepared and ready to go. However, there is nothing much to prepare
since it has only few main ingredients, and it can be made with any meat of your
choice including seafood. I had made this
dish before with shrimp – Pad prik
khing goong and posted earlier on my blog. This time I pad (stir-fry) prik khing with moo (pork). If you are not Thai and trying to make this
dish, you may find it a little bit annoying when you try to look for fish sauce
and kaffir lime leaves. The fish sauce
might be easier to find at any Asian supermarket, but to look for a package of
fresh kaffir lime leaves might be a little difficult since not every Asian
supermarket has it. I get a little
irritate sometimes when I can’t find it when I really need it, and I have to go
to a certain store that has it far away from my house just to get it. And when I find it, I will buy a few packages
(it comes in a little package) and put them in the freezer for later use. However, if I leave them too long in the
freezer, the bright green color of its leaf will turn brown from the frost bite
and diminish the aroma of the kaffir lime leaves. I usually forget to use them on time before
they are completely become useless.
Anyway, I plan to
plant my own kaffir lime tree in my backyard in the near future. By all means, if it’s too hard to find, just
use sweet basil leaves or Thai holy basil, but not the Thai basil because the
distinctive flavor of the Thai basil is completely different and might change
flavor of the whole dish. Oh, one thing that is missing from my photos
is the thinly slices of red chili pepper just for garnishing, otherwise, you
won’t miss a thing.
What you need: can be
served up to 4 servings
8 oz. pork
meat, thinly sliced in bite size
8 oz. green
beans, cut into 1 1/2 inches long
2 tbsp. Thai
Prik Khing chili paste
1 tbsp. fish
sauce
1 tbsp. soy
sauce
1 tbsp.
sugar
1/4 cup
water
2 tbsp.
thinly julienned kaffir lime leaves
2 tbsp.
cooking oil
*steamed
white/brown rice to be served with
1. Blanch
the green beans and set them aside. To
do this, bring water to a full rolling boil in a medium pot, add the green
beans and let them cook for about 3-4 minute. Then quickly remove, strain, and
transfer to the prepared ice-water bowl to stop them from cooking and to
preserve the green color. ***you can
skip this step by adding the green beans directly into the pan at the same time
of seasoning on step 3.
2. Heat the
cooking oil in the sauté pan over medium heat.
After the oil get hot, add Prik Khing chili paste and stir-fry until it’s
fragrant and the oil turns a little red.
3. Add the pork
meat, turn the heat up to high, and cook the meat about 3 minutes. Then
seasoning with fish sauce, soy sauce, and sugar and stir to combine. At this point, the pan will quickly get too
dry, add 1/4 cup of water, stir, and cook for another minute or until the pork
meat is cook. There should be some water
left as a sauce. *Add more water if it’s
too dry.
4. Add the
blanched green beans and kaffir lime leaves, stir to mix well, and then take
off the heat immediately.
5. Serve pad prik khing with steamed rice and
enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment