CATEGORY |
CUISINE |
TAG |
YIELD |
Meats, Seafood |
Thai |
Pasta |
1 |
Servings |
INGREDIENTS
1 |
c |
Pork loin; thinly sliced, and cut into bite sized pieces |
1 |
c |
Sen yai; soaked until soft in warm water (10 minutes). |
1 1/2 |
c |
Broccoli |
1/4 |
c |
Bai magkroot (kaffir lime leaves); shredded |
1/4 |
c |
Bai kaprao (holy basil leaves); shredded |
1/4 |
c |
Mushrooms |
1 |
c |
Water or pork stock |
3 |
tb |
Fish sauce |
2 |
tb |
Dark sweet soy sauce |
2 |
tb |
Maggi seasoning |
2 |
tb |
Sugar |
2 |
tb |
Arrowroot powder; mixed in a little water |
1 |
tb |
Garlic; thinly sliced |
1 |
ts |
MSG |
1 |
ts |
Freshly milled black pepper |
INSTRUCTIONS
From Colonel I.F.K. Philpott
Method
Combine the Maggi sauce, fish sauce and soy sauce, and add the pepper and
MSG, and marinade the meat for about one hour, before draining, reserving
the marinade.
While the noodles are soaking to soften them, prepare the broccoli, by
cutting up three quarters of a cup of florets, and peeling then slicing the
stems, and chopping the leaves, to form three quarters of a cup of thinly
sliced stems and leaves.
Shred the basil and lime leaves.
In a large skillet or wok, over medium heat, saute the garlic in a little
oil, and then stir fry the noodles until they begin to turn brown. (Stir
continuously, as they are likely to stick in a glutinous mass if you are
lax at this point).
Remove them, and turn the heat to high, and briefly stir fry the pork to
seal it. In a large saucepan, heat the water or stock, stir in and boil
briefly, the marinade, and add the arrowroot to thicken, then add the meat,
and other ingredients except the noodles, and stir occasionally until the
meat and vegetables are nearly cooked to your taste. Add the noodles and
continue to cook for about 3-4 minutes to complete the dish.
Serve in individual bowls.
Completion
At this stage the chef's contribution is effectively done. The following
however is my wife's procedure at this stage:
Add 1 tablespoon of prik phom (powdered prik ki nu daeng - red birdseye
chilis), and a tablespoon of prik dong - red chilis marinaded in rice
vinegar, and a little more sugar.
Then taste, and if necesary add fish sauce, sweet soy, and additional red
chilis and pickled chilis. If available you might also add a little pickled
ginger and pickled garlic.
The obvious cautions apply to following this last stage blindly: at this
point the clear sauce has turned fiery red and the heat of the chilis is
accentuated by the vinegar... The general method however is appropriate,
but you might care to procede more cautiously!
NOTES: Description
This dish is traditionally made in Thailand from phak khana, which is
variously translated in English as "Chinese Broccoli" and "Chinese Kale".
This is a brassica with the botanical name Brassica oleracea. In the past
my wife & I have found this hard to find in the West, and so this recipe
uses conventional Broccoli, This is widely available now in Thailand
(albeit rather expensive). However the variety available here has rather a
lot of stalk and leaves when you buy it, and the Thais are not inclined to
waste food, so this is the conventional preperation here (if phak khana is
available, then, of course, use it.)
The noodles are the broad rice ribbon noodles, known in Thailand as sen yai
(about 2 cm wide). Of course if these are not available then any noodles
can be substituted, and the Italian fettucini styles are as good a
substitute as any.
The bai magkroot and bai kaprao (lime and basil leaves), can be considered
optional.
continued in part 2
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