kaeng bpah moo

Kaeng Pah Moo: Mixed Vegetables Curry with Pork

"Jane" my darling has asked for a recipe of "Gaeng Bpah" a week ago, hence this curry.

This curry is a very good diet as it's very healthy: with loads of vegetables and without coconut milk. I personally find the dish is best served at lunch as it's too hot for dinner (especially with the holy basil).
I am not a big fan of hot & spicy food. So, I don't cook this particular dish very often though it tastes so good eating with streamed rice and Thai Omelette. The girls who work with me love it to bits

The Tip for cooking "Apple-Eggplants" is to soak them into a Saline (Water containing significant concentration of salts.) before cooking in order to prevent them from turning into black colour.

Find below a recipe of "Kaeng Pah Moo" or in other words "Jungle Curry".



2 Cups of Pork, cut in to bite-sized strips (Chicken or Beef is as good.)
½ Cup of Long Bean, cut into 1 inch pieces
½ Cup of Pumpkin, cut into small chunks
½ Cup of Apple-Eggplant, quartered
½ Cup of Bamboo Shoots, cut into 1 inch pieces
4-6 Cups of Chicken Stock
4-6 Tablespoons of Fish Sauce
1 Tablespoon of Palm Sugar

Red/Green/Yellow Chillies, thinly sliced
Grachai or "Lesser ginger" (Kaempferia panduratum, a rhizome that grows bunches of slender and long orange finger-like roots and is normally used in fish dishes), thinly sliced
Kaffir Lime leaves, roughly shredded
Holy Basil Leaves

3-4 Tablespoons of Red Curry Paste
2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil (extra light & mild)


Preparation.

• heat the wok over medium heat
• add olive oil
• add red curry paste, stir constantly to break the paste and fry till aromatic
• add ¼ cup of water (or chicken stock)
• add pork , stir to mix well till the pork is cooked through
• add 4-6 cups of water (or chicken stock)
• add fish sauce and palm sugar
• add apple-eggplant, pumpkin, long bean
• put a lid on to cover the wok, leave it for 3-5 mins
• add grachai, chillies, kaffir lime leaves and holy basil leaves
• turn off the heat – remove into a serving bolw
• serve with streamed whole-grain rice