• Welcome!
  • Made in America
  • Lean Luxury
  • Go Fish!
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

Lucy Lean

Luxurious and Healthy Meals - Memories in the Making

  • COOK
  • LIVE
  • LAUGH
  • TRAVEL
  • HELLO

in Comfort Food· Dinner· Eggs· Entree· Get Lean· Lean Fixes· Lean Luxury· Lean Luxury Recipe· Must read· RECIPES· Vegetables

Tempting Thai – Pad Kaprow Moo – thanks Kay Plunkett-Hogge

Tempting Thai - Pad Kapro MooLast weekend in The Guardian Kay Plunkett Hogge wrote about her ultimate comfort food, shoeless days growing up amid the bustle of Bangkok and gave her recipe for Pad Kaprow Moo – a spicy fragrant Thai dish topped with a deep fried egg.

Tempting Thai - Pad Kapro MooI felt inspired – I’ve long been a little intimidated by Thai cooking at home for the long list of ingredient – but I wasn’t to be deterred – I had Kay to guide me – via Facebook:

Me – “Is there a Thai market I should visit?”

Kay – Yes Silom market on Hollywood Boulevard, it is fab!”

Off I went to the Thai supermarket on Hollywood Boulevard – just over a mile away from home, in search of Holy Basil.  The supermarket is intimidating – row upon row of Thai ingredients stacked high.  I took a deep breath and looked at my list – first up soy sauce – Lite and Sweet.  After many minutes staring at the shelf I made my selection – and there near by was fish sauce.  I chose the bottles that looked the prettiest!

Chili’s two kinds and garlic and I was feeling like I’d got this – until I came upon the basil department – a large rack, three shelves high with Thai basil, regular basil, another Luck leaf that looked like basil and then there it was – a sign letting me know I was out of luck.

Tempting Thai - Pad Kapro Moo - Holy Basil

Holy Basil leaf – NOT HAVE.  I had read some of the comments on the Guardian site berating Kay for using the wrong basil – I mean people really get upset about substitutions.  I would use the Thai basil and the mystery Luck Leaf ‘basil’. The ground pork was sourced from Mccalls and I was all set.

Tempting Thai – Pad Kaprow Moo –
I have cooked this up in three variations –

  1. On Sunday I cooked it for the kids for brunch before National Children’s Chorus rehearsal – I reduced the chilis a little and neither wanted a fried egg and served it over brown rice. Moo but no egg.Tempting Thai - Pad Kapro Moo

I cooked it again for my lunch on Monday – this time I substituted the pork for shredded chicken breast with quinoa and I added the fried egg. No Moo but egg!Tempting Thai - Pad Kapro Moo

  1. For my lunch on Tuesday I was feeling like everything was about yellow and green so I cooked it without meat or grains, all green chilis and a green jalepeno chili, two basils and I added broccolini and a poached egg – I was trying to be healthy and this hit the mark for Lean Luxury – full of flavor, high in protein and lots of goodness. Egg but no Moo!Tempting Thai - Pad Kapro Moo

All three renditions were absolutely delicious, with or without the Moo (pork) and with or without the egg – and I’m so glad I’ve discovered this way of cooking – it’s so flavorful, healthy-ish and totally comforting too.

Tempting Thai - Pad Kapro MooHere’s Kay’s original recipe from The Guardian – feel free to mix it up a little like I did – the stir fry with the 2 soy sauces, fish sauce and chilis is very versatile.  Just don’t go telling any of the naysayers that you haven’t used proper Holy Basil if you can’t source it and drop the Moo and add the egg as the mood requires.

Pad Kaprow Moo by Kay Plunkett-Hogge

Serves 2
6 garlic cloves, peeled
6 bird’s eye chillies
1 large red chilli, cut into chunks
A pinch of sea salt
1 tbsp sweet soy sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1–2 tbsp water
A pinch of sugar
2 tbsp vegetable oil
300g pork, minced or roughly hand -chopped
100g green beans, topped, tailed and cut into 1cm pieces
1 large handful of picked bai krapow, or holy basil leaves – the more the merrier

For the eggs
2 eggs
Vegetable oil, for deep frying

1 In a pestle and mortar, pound the garlic, chillies and salt together into a rough paste, and set aside.

2 Now mix the soy sauces, fish sauce and 1 tbsp of the water together in a small bowl, and stir in the sugar to dissolve.

Tempting Thai - Pad Kapro Moo - chilis3 Heat the oil in a wok until its really hot. Throw in the chilli-garlic paste and stir-fry for a few seconds, until you can smell everything in the pan, but not long enough to colour the garlic. Be careful as it will make your eyes water. Now, add the pork and stir-fry until it’s cooked through. Add the green beans, and stir-fry.

4 Add the soy and fish sauce mixture and stir through, allowing it to bubble up before adding nearly all the basil and wilting it into the dish.

5 Serve over steamed jasmine rice, with the remaining basil leaves scattered on top.

Tempting Thai - Pad Kapro Moo - fried egg6 For the eggs, heat about 2–4cm depth of vegetable oil in another wok and, when it’s super-hot, crack in an egg. Fry until the white is crispy on the outside, and the yolk running within – it should take about 1 minute. Drain, and serve on top of your pad krapow and rice.

  • Kay Plunkett-Hogge is a food writer and broadcaster. Her latest book, Adventures of a Terribly Greedy Girl, is out now on Mitchell Beazley; kaycooks.com

Lucy Life Hack:

Whether you are poaching or frying the egg crack it into a tea strainer to get rid of the very liquid white – this reduces the tails in the water/oil and gives you a perfect egg every time.
Tempting Thai - Pad Kapro Moo - egg Tempting Thai - Pad Kapro Moo - egg

Filed Under: Comfort Food, Dinner, Eggs, Entree, Get Lean, Lean Fixes, Lean Luxury, Lean Luxury Recipe, Must read, RECIPES, Vegetables Tagged With: Comfort Food, Greedy Girl, Hollywood Boulevard, Holy Basil, Kay Plunkett Hogge, Lean Dinner, Lean Lunch, lean luxury, Pad Kapro Moo, Silom market, Thai cooking at home, The Guardian

« Go Fish 2017 – L A’s Best Chefs on board for Fishing Fun
Office Spring Clean – New Shelves in 50 Shades of Blue »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I have a present for you

a little lean luxury
My 5 ways to get lean, easy tips to a healthier you.

Subscribe Today!

VIP treatment, in the know and occasional newsletter - plus my gift to you
My 5 ways to get lean, easy tips to a healthier you.

Come on an Adventure

  • COOK
  • LIVE
  • LAUGH
  • TRAVEL
  • HELLO

looking for something?

lucylean

Anxiety levels have been high these last few weeks Anxiety levels have been high these last few weeks and just when you think it can’t get any worse it does - Covid levels rising and hospitals dealing with record numbers of very unwell patients, a third lockdown and schools going online and exams cancelled, then there was the runoff in Georgia 💙 overshadowed by the insurrection in D.C. which led to the swift impeachment (again), there’s the excitement of Joe Biden’s inauguration that is being sucked away by the pandemic, the rise of white supremacy with troops guarding the Capitol and ever present fear.  But through it all we have to have hope - for the vaccine, for the teachers helping our kids learn online, for the nurses and doctors working against the odds, for M&S and Ocado deliveries,for a new administration, for arrests of violent rioters, for congress doing its job and for decency to be about to be sworn in.  It’s a lot and we all struggle daily to keep our heads above water.  On a personal level I find painting helps, as do walks in nature and family suppers, I’m wearing pretty dresses, silk underwear and wrapping myself in soft cashmere and yes I’m consuming more champagne than I usually do - if not now then when?  #Lockdown #Stayhome #staysafe #EnglishCountryHouse #EnglishCountryside
#snowdrops went for a walk to search for snowdrops #snowdrops went for a walk to search for snowdrops today - last year the lawn was carpeted in white, this year nothing.  Maybe they are late? Painted a small bunch #oilpaint #flowerpainting #snowdroppainting a sign of #spring I chickened out of painting the tiny glass jug that was a Christmas present - not sure I know how to paint that aqua colour - help!  #EnglishCountryhouse #EnglishCountryGarden #englishcountryside #Lockdown #Staysafe #stayhome
Frosted primroses #oilpainting sketch #sundaysketc Frosted primroses #oilpainting sketch #sundaysketch - we haven’t had snow but this magical frozen landscape is a beautiful alternative - painting again because that’s what got me through the last lockdown #painting #Englishcountryhouse #Englishcountryside #frost #ice #lockdown #staysafe #stayhome
#Lockdown weekend post a crazy time in the world o #Lockdown weekend post a crazy time in the world of #covid #brexit #onlineschool  #Georgia and then the #insurrection in D.C. I took it easy today - I tidied and cleaned #declutter #springcleaning I even cleaned out the #snack cupboard and found the plates I bought and had put in a safe place @jimbobart and made a couple of loaves of @richardbertinet #sourdough ready to wake up and bake tomorrow xxx #stayhome #staysafe #EnglishCountryHouse #Englishinteriors #Georgian #architecture
I love peaches 🍑 Thank you @staceyabrams for tr I love peaches 🍑 Thank you @staceyabrams for truly making America great again - Midnight snack - someone ate the whole pumpkin pie but was thoughtful enough to leave me a slice for breakfast... time to make more! Peach pie 🥧 for everyone x #Epiphany
#Lockdown #Day1 - climbed to the top of #CleyHill #Lockdown #Day1 - climbed to the top of #CleyHill with @chloescotland #walkingandtalking made a pumpkin pie #crimping needs practice - enjoyed the early evening light across the lawn #EnglishCountryHouse #englishcountryside and then came in and made a cozy #fire and made myself a #champagnecocktail - #dontjudge it’s been that kind of day after yesterday’s news came thick and fast crashing over us from morning until night x #staysafe #stayhome #thankyouNHS 🌈
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2021 Lucy Lean