Thai Food

Pak Boong Fai Daeng  is one of a few Thai street foods that can be made at home very easily, quickly, and with great results.  Pak Boong is a very common vegetable in Thailand, as well as other South East Asian countries. Containing no meat and featuring only one main ingredient, the dish costs very little to make. You can’t say this about most of the famous items you find on the streets.

 Ingredients:
Smashed garlic – 2 tablespoon/ 30 ml.
Oil – 3 tablespoon/ 45 ml.
Smashed chilies – 3-5.
Salted bean paste – 1 teaspoon/ 5 ml.
Oyster sauce – 1 tablespoon/ 15 ml.
Water spinach – 20 stems.
Water – 1 tablespoon/ 15 ml.

Preperation 
Lightly smash the chilies. Smash the garlic and remove the skin. Set aside. Wash the water spinach and shake it dry. Prepare the vegetable by breaking off the leaves at the base, and then breaking the stems with your hands at about 1.5″ intervals. Leave the top last part of stem intact with the top 2 leaves on. See picture to the right for an example.

Heat your wok to high, throw the garlic in, stir quickly until it just starts to turn light brown. If your pan is hot enough, this should be less than 10 seconds. Then throw the vegetable in with the chilies. It should sizzle like crazy. Flip the vegetables and spread out a few times to make sure they evenly cook. Then add the water, bean sauce & oyster sauce, and stir for maybe 1 more minute, until the vegetable is finished. They’re done when the leaves are dark green and wilted and the stem is medium green. Don’t overcook, or they’ll taste bad.