Kuaitiao radna (wide noodles in a creamy sauce) pt 1

1 Servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
1 cup Pork loin; thinly sliced, and cut into bite sized pieces
1 cup Sen yai; soaked until soft in warm water (10 minutes).
1½ cup Broccoli
¼ cup Bai magkroot (kaffir lime leaves); shredded
¼ cup Bai kaprao (holy basil leaves); shredded
¼ cup Mushrooms
1 cup Water or pork stock
3 tablespoons Fish sauce
2 tablespoons Dark sweet soy sauce
2 tablespoons Maggi seasoning
2 tablespoons Sugar
2 tablespoons Arrowroot powder; mixed in a little water
1 tablespoon Garlic; thinly sliced
1 teaspoon MSG
1 teaspoon Freshly milled black pepper

Directions

From Colonel I.F.K. Philpott

Method

Combine the Maggi sauce, fish sauce and soy sauce, and add the pepper and MSG, and marinade the meat for about one hour, before draining, reserving the marinade.

While the noodles are soaking to soften them, prepare the broccoli, by cutting up three quarters of a cup of florets, and peeling then slicing the stems, and chopping the leaves, to form three quarters of a cup of thinly sliced stems and leaves.

Shred the basil and lime leaves.

In a large skillet or wok, over medium heat, saute the garlic in a little oil, and then stir fry the noodles until they begin to turn brown. (Stir continuously, as they are likely to stick in a glutinous mass if you are lax at this point).

Remove them, and turn the heat to high, and briefly stir fry the pork to seal it. In a large saucepan, heat the water or stock, stir in and boil briefly, the marinade, and add the arrowroot to thicken, then add the meat, and other ingredients except the noodles, and stir occasionally until the meat and vegetables are nearly cooked to your taste. Add the noodles and continue to cook for about 3-4 minutes to complete the dish.

Serve in individual bowls.

Completion

At this stage the chef's contribution is effectively done. The following however is my wife's procedure at this stage: Add 1 tablespoon of prik phom (powdered prik ki nu daeng - red birdseye chilis), and a tablespoon of prik dong - red chilis marinaded in rice vinegar, and a little more sugar.

Then taste, and if necesary add fish sauce, sweet soy, and additional red chilis and pickled chilis. If available you might also add a little pickled ginger and pickled garlic.

The obvious cautions apply to following this last stage blindly: at this point the clear sauce has turned fiery red and the heat of the chilis is accentuated by the vinegar... The general method however is appropriate, but you might care to procede more cautiously! NOTES: Description

This dish is traditionally made in Thailand from phak khana, which is variously translated in English as "Chinese Broccoli" and "Chinese Kale".

This is a brassica with the botanical name Brassica oleracea. In the past my wife & I have found this hard to find in the West, and so this recipe uses conventional Broccoli, This is widely available now in Thailand (albeit rather expensive). However the variety available here has rather a lot of stalk and leaves when you buy it, and the Thais are not inclined to waste food, so this is the conventional preperation here (if phak khana is available, then, of course, use it.) The noodles are the broad rice ribbon noodles, known in Thailand as sen yai (about 2 cm wide). Of course if these are not available then any noodles can be substituted, and the Italian fettucini styles are as good a substitute as any.

The bai magkroot and bai kaprao (lime and basil leaves), can be considered optional.

continued in part 2

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