Pad Ka Pao

A classic Thai dish with a creative little twist!

This dish is a thai dish offered in many Asian restaurants in Israel. I say “Asian restaurants” because they have a fusion of different types of food from different countries at a lot of them. For example, you can find a Pad Ka Pao dish at Japanika, obviously a Japanese restaurant with a not-so-Japanese dish.

Which is fine by me because I love Thai food and their Pad Ka Pao is good.

So what is it? It’s ground beef with veggies, served over rice, with a fried egg on top.

I like to change up the veggies I put in it. Sometimes I put in bell peppers and green beans. Other times, I’ve used zucchini, mushrooms and carrots in it.

I always put a hot pepper into my dishes – so heads up. If you want to make it without – feel free!

Serves 3  (2 hungry people)

Ingredients:

1/2 kg ground beef

2 red bell peppers – chopped

2 carrots – chopped

1 hot pepper – sliced thinly

2 cloves of garlic – chopped

3 handfuls frozen green beans / a package of mushrooms / 1 zucchini (or whatever other veggie you’d like to throw in – broccoli, sweet peas- your choice really)

4 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp date syrup (if you don’t have date syrup, use honey)

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp cumin

A pinch of cinnamon (it helps bring out the ground beef flavor)

A pinch of nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Salt to taste (I believe in using a little bit of kosher salt at each step of the process).

1 cup rice (cook according to bag instructions)

eggs – one per person served

1/2 cup water

Instructions:

1. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a deep pan

2. Add garlic (and a little bit of chili flakes – it helps add a kick if you like it)

3. Cook the ground beef until it is browned. While the beef is cooking, add the spices.

4. Add the hot pepper and sauté a bit with the meat

5. Add the chopped veggies. Sauté for about 2 minutes.

6. Add the soy sauce and date syrup. Saute for 30 seconds.

7. Add water and let simmer for about 10 minutes or until only a little bit of water is left. Stir.

8. While the meat is simmering in the water, fry an egg on a separate pan.

Serve on white rice, with the egg on top.

Enjoy!

Serving suggestion: serve with some cilantro on top.