Thai cuisine · Vegetable Dishes

Pak Boong Fai Daeng

Water spinach flash-fried over the highest heat with garlic, chili and oyster sauce for mere seconds, leaving the stems crisp.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 600g water spinach (or young leaf spinach with stems)
• 5 garlic cloves
• 4 Thai chilies
• 2 tbsp fermented soybean paste (taucheo)
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 3 tbsp water
• 4 tbsp oil

Instructions

1. Wash the water spinach, trim off the tough stem ends and cut the rest into 5cm pieces; spin the leaves and stems very dry, keeping them separate.
2. Crush the garlic roughly with the flat of a knife and halve the Thai chilies lengthwise; set both aside together with the soybean paste, ready to hand.
3. Stir together the oyster sauce, light soy sauce, sugar and water in a small bowl – there won't be a second to measure once the wok is going.
4. Heat the oil in the wok almost to smoking point, add the garlic, chili and soybean paste and stir for 10 seconds until fragrant and sharp-smelling.
5. Add the stems first and fry for 30 seconds, then add the leaves and the sauce mixture – cook for at most 60 more seconds, just until the leaves wilt.
6. Tip immediately onto a warmed platter and serve at once, since the stems lose their crunch within two minutes.