Stir-fried pork with ginger (moo pad qing)

Requiring only a few ingredients (for Thai food, at least), moo pad qing is highly fragrant and is best enjoyed with steamed rice. As the highlight of this dish is ginger, it’s vital to use young ginger for its fresher, milder flavour.

Credit: Alana Dimou

• serves

  2

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 80 ml (2½ fl oz/⅓ cup) vegetable oil
• 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 1 8-cm (3¼-in) piece young ginger, julienned
• 2 red chillies, finely sliced
• 400 g (14 oz) pork loin, cut into 7-mm (¼-in) thick slices
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp caster (superfine) sugar
• 100 g (3½ oz) wood ear fungus (see Note)
• 1 tsp ground white pepper
• 1 spring onion (scallion), cut into 3 cm (1¼ in) lengths
• steamed jasmine rice, to serve

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat and stir-fry the garlic, ginger and chilli until fragrant. Add the pork and stir-fry for 4–5 minutes until almost cooked. Season with soy sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce and caster sugar, add the wood ear fungus and stir to combine. Finally, add the ground white pepper and spring onion and stir-fry for 30 seconds.
2. Serve with steamed jasmine rice.

Note

• Wood ear fungus can be purchased online or from Asian grocers. If it comes dehydrated, it needs to be soaked in water before use.

Recipe and images from Bangkok Local by Sareen Rojanametin and Jean Thamthanakorn, Smith Street Books, RRP $39.99

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.