Pad Pak Boong Fai Daeng ผัดผักบุ้งไฟแดง Thai Stir-Fried Morning Glory
There is a dish in Thailand that is as much performance as it is food. At street stalls across Bangkok you will watch a cook toss a wok full of morning glory so high into the air that it disappears into the smoke above the flame, then catches it perfectly on the way down. Pad Pak Boong Fai Daeng, literally morning glory stir-fried over red fire, is Thailand's most theatrical vegetable dish and one of its most delicious. The hollow stems of the morning glory stay crisp and slightly squeaky, the leaves wilt just enough to absorb the bold garlic, chili, and fermented soybean sauce, and the whole thing comes together in under two minutes of screaming heat. Fast, fierce, and completely magnificent over rice.
Equipment
- Wok or large heavy skillet
- wok spatula
- small bowl for the sauce
Ingredients
- 1 pound large bunch fresh morning glory pak boong / water spinach / ong choy, washed, tough stems trimmed, cut into 3-inch pieces
- 4 garlic cloves roughly chopped
- 4 fresh Thai bird's eye chilies roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons tao jiao fermented soybean paste
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 cups steamed jasmine rice to serve
Instructions
- Get everything ready before the heat goes on: Before the wok goes on, mix tao jiao, oyster sauce, fish sauce, soy sauce, and sugar together in a small bowl. Stir well and set it right next to the stove. This dish moves so fast that having everything ready is not optional. Also have your chopped garlic and chilies in a small pile right beside the wok, and your morning glory washed, trimmed, and within arm's reach.
- Fry the garlic and chilies: Heat your wok over the highest heat your stove can produce. Add the oil and swirl to coat. When the oil is shimmering and just beginning to smoke, add the garlic and chilies all at once. Stir-fry for about 15 to 20 seconds only. You want them fragrant and just beginning to color at the edges, not soft and cooked through.
- Add the morning glory and sauce: Add the morning glory stems first and toss immediately. Give them about 20 to 30 seconds over the high heat before adding the leaves. Once the leaves go in, pour the sauce over everything at the same time. Toss constantly and vigorously, making sure every piece of morning glory gets coated in the sauce and exposed to the heat.
- Toss until just wilted: Keep tossing for about 60 to 90 seconds total. The leaves will wilt quickly and the stems will turn bright green and slightly glossy. The morning glory is ready when it is vibrant green, just wilted, and coated in the savory sauce. The stems should still have a little crunch. Do not walk away from this wok for even a moment.
- Serve immediately: Transfer immediately to a serving plate and bring it straight to the table. Serve over steamed jasmine rice. Pad Pak Boong waits for nobody. Every second it sits off the heat it loses a little of its brightness and crunch. Make it last, eat it first.
Notes
- What is morning glory? Morning glory, known in Thai as pak boong and in Chinese as ong choy, is a semi-aquatic leafy green vegetable with long hollow stems and pointed leaves. It has a mild, slightly grassy flavor and a wonderful textural contrast between the crisp stems and tender leaves. Find it fresh at Asian grocery stores, often sold in large bunches. Chinese water spinach is the same thing under a different name.
- Tao jiao is the secret. Fermented soybean paste is what makes Pad Pak Boong taste like the dish you remember from Thailand rather than a generic green vegetable stir fry. It brings a salty, deeply savory, slightly funky complexity that no other ingredient replicates. Find it at Asian grocery stores labeled as yellow bean sauce or fermented bean paste. If you cannot find it, add an extra splash of fish sauce and a small pinch of white miso. It will not be identical but it will be good.
- The heat. This is the hottest, fastest stir fry in the Thai repertoire. Everything happens in under two minutes once the food hits the pan. Your wok must be screaming hot before anything goes in. If your home stove feels underpowered, cook in two batches rather than one crowded pan. A crowded pan steams the greens rather than stirs them and you end up with limp, waterlogged morning glory. That is not what we are after.
- Stems before leaves. The hollow stems take slightly longer to cook than the delicate leaves. Add them to the wok first and give them a 20 to 30 second head start. Then add everything else and toss without stopping.
- Pre-mix the sauce. With a cook time of under two minutes there is absolutely no time to reach for bottles once the wok is on. Mix tao jiao, oyster sauce, fish sauce, soy sauce, and sugar in a small bowl before you turn the heat on. Have it right next to the stove.
- Make it vegan. Swap fish sauce for soy sauce and oyster sauce for vegetarian oyster sauce, widely available at Asian grocery stores labeled as mushroom oyster sauce. Tao jiao is already vegan. The dish loses nothing.
Nutrition
Calories: 140kcalCarbohydrates: 10gProtein: 4gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 760mgPotassium: 419mgFiber: 2gSugar: 3g
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