Dish of Pork with Long Beans
(click to enlarge)

Pork with Long Beans


Thailand   -   Phat Phrik Khing Mu Kap Thua Fak Yao
Serves:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 4 side
***
1 hr
Most		 A bit too strong flavored to be a main dish, but is a flavorful accent dish, or one part of an Asian menu. It can be made days in advance, right up to the final warming.

1
1
8
----
1
1
1
1
3
2
7
1
1
3
2
----
2
1/2
2
2
#
T
oz
---
t
t

t

T

t
t
oz
cl
---
T
T
T
T
Pork, lean (1)
Fish Sauce
Long Beans (2)
-- Curry Paste
Kaffir Lime Rind (3)
Galangal root (4)
Lemon Grass stalk
Cilantro Root (5)
Chili, dry (6)
Dried Shrimp (7)
Pepper Corns
Salt
Shrimp Paste (8)
Shallots
Garlic
-----------
Oil
Palm Sugar
Fish Sauce
Water

Making the Curry Paste may look daunting, but it's not really hard if you have good equipment. Finding all the ingredients may be harder for many people.

Prep   (40 min)
  1. Slice PORK thin and cut into medium strips. Mix with 1T Fish Sauce and marinate, turning a few times, while doing the rest of the prep.
  2. Cut LONG BEANS into 1 inch lengths. Cook in boiling water until crisp tender. Refresh in cold running water.
  3. Make Curry Paste using ingredients in order given.
    1. Kaffir Lime Rind:   If you have fresh limes you can grate just like regular rinds, but you probably have frozen ones, if any. Chop as fine as you can and pound to a paste in your Big Granite Mortar (the rind bits will just laugh at your food processor).
    2. Galangal:   Slice very thin, chop very fine, add to the mortar and pound.
    3. Lemon Grass:   Strip off tough outer leaves and cut off hard root end. Pound flat with your kitchen mallet, then slice the bottom 4 inches crosswise very thin. Chop fine, add to the mortar and pound.
    4. Cilantro Root:   Chop fine, add to the mortar and pound.
    5. In your spice grinder reduce Chilis, Dried Shrimp, Pepper Corns and Salt to powder. Mix with the stuff you pounded in the mortar.
    6. Shallots and Garlic:   Chop fine and reduce to paste. A mini-prep food processor can be used here, or the mortar. Mix thoroughly with all the pounded stuff and the Shrimp Paste.
  4. Mix together Palm Sugar, Fish Sauce and Water.
Run   (20 min)
  1. In a spacious sauté pan or wok, heat Oil and stir in the Pork. Fry stirring until pork is cooked through and starts to brown in spots. Remove with a slotted spoon leaving as much oil behind as possible. Drain on paper towels.
  2. Stir Chili Paste into pan and fry until aromatic.
  3. Stir in Fish Sauce mix and deglaze the pan, scraping with a wooden spatula.
  4. Stir in Pork and Long Beans. Simmer covered stirring once or twice until heated through.
  5. Serve.
NOTES:

  1. Pork:

      Weight given is for lean meat without fat or bone.

  2. Long Beans:

      These have a darker, sweeter flavor than regular green beans, but you can use those if you don't have long beans - but use a shorter cooking time. For details see our Long Beans page.

  3. Kaffir Lime Rind:

      This is probably the hardest ingredient to find (I have my own tree). If you don't have any, use grated zest of a regular lime (green only). Different flavor, but it'll have to do. For details see our Kaffir Lime page.

  4. Galangal:

      Use fresh or frozen only. This is now grown in Southern California and becoming easily available in markets serving Southeast Asian communities. If you can't get it, use fresh Ginger Root - different flavor but not that much is used in this recipe in any case.

  5. Cilantro Root:

      still very difficult to find even in Los Angeles. If you don't have it use the lower stems of fresh Cilantro (no leaves) and use twice as much.

  6. Chili:

      Three dried red Thai Chilis make this dish moderately hot by Southern California standards. If that sounds too hot for you, use Japones, which will make it milder. For details see our Thai Chilis page.

  7. Dried Shrimp:

      Easily found in markets serving Southeast Asian, Korean or Latin American communities. To measure, crumble fairly fine, but before grinding to powder.

  8. Shrimp Paste:

      Preferably use a Thai shrimp paste - less rude and pungent than most others. For details see our Shrimp Sauces / Pastes page .
  9. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch tt=to taste ar=as required
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