Pad See Ew: A dish served with Thai Pickled Jalapenos

Pad See Ew with Pickled Red Jalapenos

“It’s hard to feel mysterious and romantic when you have been supping on Pork and Greens!”—–Anne of Green Gables, L.M Montgomery

Every culture has their own version of “Pork ‘n’ Greens”, but probably the BEST version is the Thai Dish Pad See Ew. Jam from Thai Fresh told me that, although Pad Thai is the most popular Thai dish in America, in Thailand the  dish that most Thai would identify as “The National Dish” is Pad See Ew. It is considered to be total comfort food, Mom-style cooking, although it is a street vendor favorite as well.

The ingredients for Pad See Eew are relatively few: Rice noodles, Chinese broccoli (or Kale), fresh pork, an egg, and garlic. Oh and Soy Sauce. I probably would never had tried making this dish at home, except for the Gardening Challenge:

“What am I going to do with all this ________?”

Last spring it was “All this Kale????” I myself am very fond of greens, I particularly love arugula and kale, oh but I also love Swiss Chard and Spinach. But I am the ONLY person in my house who likes them, so I have to eat ALL of them ALL BY MYSELF. Usually a garden of any size will produce enough greens to feed a family of 8, so using them up takes a lot of ingenuity. Pad See Ew is a GREAT dish for using up KALE.

(Of course, my kale plants at the present moment are a little over an inch tall, so I didn’t make it this time in order to use up Kale. In fact, I BOUGHT KALE AT THE STORE especially to make it, because I was craving it. Because it is SO DELICIOUS, the most POPULAR dish in all of Thailand !!!)

P*L*U*S, I noticed on the recipe that it is served with fresh pickled Chile Peppers (such as the Thai style fresh pickled jalapenos in my icebox right now) so this dish falls under the heading “What to do with pickled jalapenos”.

A NOTE: I find that when I am cooking Thai food, I use more meat and more sauce or curry paste than the recipes call for. So, consider this recipe rather flexible; you can really add more or less of anything and it will probably still be awesome. This recipe reflects the way I made it this evening.

PAD SEE EW

2 TBS oil

2 TB sugar

1 cup thinly sliced fresh raw pork (I use fresh ham steak from Peach Creek Farms.)

1/2 cup light Thai soy suace (you can buy this at Thai Fresh or  any Asian Market)

2-6 cloves of garlic. I myself like a lot of garlic!

several stems of cilantro if you’ve got it

Half a package of flat, wide dried rice noodles

1 egg

1 TBS dark soy sauce (tamari)

1 TBS white vinegar

A bunch of Kale, or you can be AUTHENTIC and use Chinese Broccoli. But don’t use regular broccoli, it’s flavor is not strong enough. To be Perfectly Wonderful, this dish must have that “Bitter Greens” flavor.

Use your biggest Le Creuset stockpot, or, a wok if you have one. I have given up on Woks and just use my Le Creuset anymore, I just seem to get better results.

1. Get out a big ceramic bowl, and put your dry noodles in it, and then run the hot water in your sink until it is coming out Burn-your-hand-hot, and fill the bowl with hot water. They should soak for about 45 minutes, they are ready when they are all floppy.  While they are soaking, you chop everything up. When cooking Asian, YOU REALLY HAVE TO do that Galloping Gourmet thing where you have everything all ready and chopped up before you turn the stove on.

Peel and mince your garlic (I do it the “SMASH” way) and also the cilantro if you have some. Chop up the Kale into pieces the size of which will fit easily on your fork when you are eating. Slice the raw pork into bite-size strips. Salt and pepper it while you are at it. Get an egg out of the icebox.

2. In a little dish, mix up the sugar, Thai soy sauce, Tamari, and the spoonful of Vinegar. Mix to dissolve the sugar.

Okay, ready to cook!

Drain the noodles.

Put the oil in the pot. When you think it might be hot, add the garlic and cilantro and stir a little. Add the Pork. When it looks about half done, add the Kale. It will start to turn bright green. Just keep stirring everything until the kale begins to wilt and get smaller. Grab your DRAINED noodles, and add them and really begin stirring so that the noodles cook too. Add the little bowl of sauce and sugar and STIR! When it seems like everything is cooked to your liking, clear aside a little empty area in the bottom of the pot, and crack the egg into it. Smash it up a little, that is, scramble it a little, and then toss everything around so that the egg can coat everything. It will be barely discernible, but it is important! To the Flavor of the Dish!

It is done!

Top with a few Thai pickled Jalapenos!

The version of Pad See Ew I made tonight was the BEST I HAVE EVER MADE!

Pad See Ew pictured with my jar of Fresh Pickled Jalapenos