Destination
Pattaya
The story
Pad pak boong is Thailand's most-eaten green vegetable dish and one of the country's most theatrical wok stir-fries: fresh water spinach (morning glory, kang kong) tossed in a screaming-hot wok with garlic, bird's-eye chilies, fermented yellow soybean paste (tao jiao), oyster sauce and a splash of stock, cooked in under 2 minutes so the hollow stems stay crunchy and the leaves are just wilted. The classical Bangkok street version is called "pad pak boong fai daeng" ("morning glory with red fire") — the stir-fry is done over a huge open flame, and skilled cooks toss the greens so high in the air that they can be caught on a plate 3 metres away. Sold at every Thai street cart and every Chinese-Thai restaurant; every family meal in Thailand has some version.
Method
Wash morning glory thoroughly. Cut into 5cm lengths, keeping stems and leaves together. Dry with a tea towel — wet greens spatter violently in hot oil.
In a Thai clay mortar, pound garlic and chilies briefly to a rough paste.
Whisk sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
Warm oil in a wok over the highest heat you can produce until it is smoking. Not just hot — actively producing wisps of smoke.
Add the garlic-chili paste. Stir 10 seconds — do not burn.
Immediately tip in all the morning glory. It will fill the wok and hiss. Toss vigorously for 30 seconds using a scooping-and-flipping motion.
Pour the sauce mix in. Toss another 45 to 60 seconds until the greens are coated, glossy and the stems are barely wilted but still crunchy.
Tip immediately onto a serving platter. Serve straight away with jasmine rice, lime wedges and nam pla prik. Best eaten within 5 minutes — the greens go limp fast.
Tips
- Very hot wok — smoking. This is the whole technique. Anything less and the greens stew instead of wok-fry.
- Tao jiao is essential. Thai yellow bean paste is the flavour marker. Any Thai grocer sells it (Healthy Boy brand is standard). Do not substitute miso or soybean paste — different flavour.
- Dry greens. Wet morning glory spatters and steams. Pat completely dry before it hits the wok.
- 90 seconds max. Any longer and the greens go limp. Fast in, fast out, straight to the table.
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