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<\/a>With limited time between lunch and dinner, Nok had asked me to let her know in advance what I wanted her to cook for me so that she was sure to have on hand any ingredients we couldn\u2019t find at the market. I really wanted to go with what inspired me at the market, but I understood her limitations. Her kitchen is not a teaching kitchen. It\u2019s very basic. So as well as the Tung Thang<\/em>* (see previous blog entry and below), I thought perhaps I should go for the basics \u2013 Pad Thai and Green Papaya Salad.<\/p>\n\u201cChicken, prawn, or pork?\u201d she asked.\u00a0 <\/span>Even though I knew there were shrimp in the fried dumplings, I wanted them with the noodles and salad as well. I can buy fresh seafood \u2013 mostly farm-raised \u2013 in Chengdu, but I wanted to take advantage of the fresh local bounty. We hand-picked the plumpest ones from the vendor, whose husband was probably catching them right in front of our rented house earlier that day or the night before. The photo below shows a typical local fisherman. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I was so excited about watching a real cook cook real Thai food. I call Nok a \u201ccook\u201d even though she is an accomplished chef because her food is fresh, local, and traditional. I remember my first exposure to Southeast Asian recipes was in Charmaine Solomon<\/a>\u2019s incredible The Complete Asian Cookbook<\/em> from 1976. Believe it or not, it\u2019s one of the handful of cookbooks I brought with me (from my thousands) overseas. She was so ahead of her time. Interestingly, the book doesn\u2019t include recipes for any of these now classic dishes. Perhaps they weren\u2019t as popular then, or perhaps she simply wanted to include the most representative dishes from each of the 15 Asian countries included in the massive tome. There have been several revised editions since it was originally published. In the 30-page section on Thailand, she writes, \u201cThai cooking\u2026is very much a taste-and-add affair. While the recipes are splendid, it is very difficult to obtain exact recipes because most Thai cooks don\u2019t use them. It is best to watch the cook closely, noting every move and taking careful and copious notes.\u201d Describing the cook with whom she \u201cseldom spent so edifying and afternoon,\u201d Solomon noted that \u201clike every country, Thailand has a classic cuisine and a peasant cuisine. She uses both, depending on the occasion.\u201d<\/p>\n At the market I couldn\u2019t resist buying some greens\u00a0 and seaweed, which one of the shrimpers\u2019 wives was selling. Of the seaweed, which was the best I’ve ever eaten (surely because of its freshness), Nok said, \u201cYou can add it to the papaya salad.\u201d Mikel noted that the little globules burst on the tongue like caviar. It tasted the way the ocean smells. (Photo below.)<\/p>\n The greens, which Nok called Phak Kwang Tung<\/em> (literally, Guangdong Greens), were what I would call Chinese Mustard Greens. But as I have written before, the common names of the thousands of varieties of greens are mind-boggling. And deciphering the different species of the genus Brassica really doesn\u2019t matter to most home cooks, or gardeners, for that matter. Often referred to as choi<\/em> or choy sum<\/em>, it is more correctly called Yau choy<\/em> or yu choy<\/em> or yu choy sum<\/em>. What we found were the mature, foot-long, dark green, yellow-flowered mature stems (third from the left in the photo, above right). It\u2019s similar to Chinese broccoli, which you can treat in the same manner.\u00a0 <\/span>In his Asian Ingredients<\/em> (1988), Bruce Cost wrote, \u201cYow choy<\/em> means \u2018oil vegetable\u2019\u2026. It\u2019s the ubiquitous green of Hong Kong, where it\u2019s called simply choy sum<\/em>, or \u2018flowering green\u2019.\u201d By the time \u00a0<\/span>Ken Hom wrote his own book of\u00a0 <\/span>Asian ingredients in 1996, the green had become familiar enough to the American cook that he simply advised that it \u201cis delicious stir-fried with olive oil and garlic and used in fillings and with pasta. The cabbage leaves require little cooking to bring out their delicate, sweet, mustard flavors.\u201d That was the only recipe he offered.\u00a0 <\/span>I was thrilled to watch Nok cook the greens for me, during which she used the same flavors (if not the same ingredients) that I normally use and a very similar technique. \u00a0<\/span>I\u2019ve run similar recipes on the blog before. You can use Chinese broccoli, rapini, or other study greens in this recipe just as well.<\/p>\n Phak Kwang Tung Jeen<\/strong><\/p>\n The main difference between the way I would normally cook greens and Nok\u2019s is that she uses a touch a of sweetness, from both the oyster sauce and sugar.\u00a0 <\/span>Her coup de gr\u00e2ce<\/em> (for me, because it is a brilliant touch) is a garnish of deep fried garlic, which she happened to have on hand. The garlic is thinly sliced and fried quickly until it is golden and sweet, \u00a0<\/span>but not browned, at which point it becomes bitter. You can add shrimp or chicken or tofu to this dish, adding it to the pan before the seasonings.<\/p>\n a bunch of Chinese flowering cabbage, Chinese broccoli, rapini, or turnip or mustard greens<\/p>\n a tablespoon of oil (I use olive oil) 3 cloves fresh garlic, to taste<\/p>\n fresh chili peppers, to taste<\/p>\n 3 tablespoons water or chicken stock, more or less (see recipe)<\/p>\n oyster sauce, to taste<\/p>\n 1 teaspoon sugar\u00a0 <\/span>(optional)<\/p>\n 1 teaspoon fish sauce or \u00bd teaspoon stock powder<\/p>\n soy sauce, to taste<\/p>\n deep fried garlic (see headnote)<\/p>\n Wash the greens and chop the stems into pieces; slice the greens as well into bite size pieces. Don\u2019t shake off the water, you will want it clinging to the greens. Mince the garlic and chilies together. Nok does this by putting them in a plastic bag and pounding them with a pestle, to avoid the pungent fumes. Heat a wok or large deep skillet over a high flame, add the oil, then stir in the garlic and chilies. At this point Nok adds the water and there \u00a0<\/span>are dramatic flames, but I prefer to add the greens (stems first if they are thick) and the water that clings to them, plus more water or stock if necessary. Immediately add the seasonings to taste, stirring and tossing the vegetables around until they are wilted and tender. It will take about 4 minutes.<\/p>\n Serve immediately garnished with the fried garlic.
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