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Matt Preston's pad kra pao

Name: Matt Preston's pad kra pao recipe
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 40.00 ml peanut oil; 500g pork mince; 280g snake beans or green beans, trimmed and cut into 5cm diagonal lengths; 2 eschalots, thinly sliced; 15g ginger; 2 garlic cloves, crushed; 3 long red chillies, seeds removed, thinly sliced lengthways; 55g white sugar; 60ml fish sauce; 40.00 ml dark soy sauce; 4 large eggs; Handful holy basil leaves (substitute Thai basil), plus extra to serve; Steamed white rice, to serve; 125ml fish sauce; 10 prik kee noo (see note) or bird’s-eye chillies, thinly sliced; 2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced; 40.00 ml finely chopped coriander; 20.00 ml lime juice

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by Matt Preston

delicious. senior editor

Oct 30, 2023

Matt Preston makes mince shine in this spicy Thai classic.

2 tbs peanut oil
500g pork mince
280g snake beans or green beans, trimmed and cut into 5cm diagonal lengths
2 eschalots, thinly sliced
3cm piece (15g) fresh ginger, finely grated
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 long red chillies, seeds removed, thinly sliced lengthways
1/4 cup (55g) white sugar
1/4 cup (60ml) fish sauce
2 tbs dark soy sauce
4 large eggs
Handful holy basil leaves (substitute Thai basil), plus extra to serve
Steamed white rice, to serve

Prik nam pla (Thai chilli sauce)

1/2 cup (125ml) fish sauce
10 prik kee noo (see note) or bird’s-eye chillies, thinly sliced
2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 tbs finely chopped coriander
1 tbs lime juice

Method

1.

For the chilli sauce, mix fish sauce, chilli and garlic in a small bowl. Cover and set aside for at least 8 hours, or overnight. The longer you leave it, the mellower it will become (it will still be very hot).
2.

To cook the pad kra pao, heat half the oil in a wok or large frypan over high heat. Stir-fry mince for 5 minutes or until browned all over. Add beans, eschalot, ginger, garlic and red chilli and stir-fry for 2 minutes until beans start to soften. Stir in sugar, fish sauce and soy sauce. Stir-fry for 1-2 minutes until sauce thickens, meat is cooked and beans are tender.
3.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 tbs oil in a large non-stick frypan over high heat. Fry eggs for 2-3 minutes until the whites set and crisp around edges, but yolks remain runny.
4.

Just before serving, stir basil leaves through mince, and mix coriander and lime juice through chilli sauce. Spoon mince over steamed rice, top with a fried egg and extra basil leaves and serve immediately with prik nam pla alongside (leave it up to your guests to decide how much of the fiery sauce they want!).

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Recipe Notes

Begin this recipe a day ahead. Prik kee noo is a very hot, small Thai chilli, available from Asian grocers. Wear gloves when slicing, and wash your hands, knife and chopping board after slicing.