$5 Pork Stir Fry for 2
Whenever I order Thai food, Pad Kra Pao is the often my first choice. Pad Kra Pao is ground pork, chicken or beef, stir fried with chilis and served over fluffy white rice. It’s so warm, nourishing, and packed with flavor.
I developed a version of this recipe that is incredibly quick, easy and importantly VERY cheap to make. It’s annoying to think you are being “financially responsible” by cooking dinner, just to find out you spent 2x on ingredients. This is an exception to that, and I gurrantee you have all of the ingredients in your pantry right now. Seriously, make this dish TONIGHT!
Ingredients: Serves 2
1 LBS Ground Pork (or Chicken, Beef!)
1 inch piece of ginger, minced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 TBS Sambal Olek (or any hot sauce, such as Sriracha)
1 TBS white sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 cup water
Optional Garnishes: Cilantro, peanuts, lime, sesame seeds
Step 1: Browning the meat
In a wide saucepan or dutch over oven high heat, sear your ground meat in a tablespoon of olive oil. A few tips for searing:
Make sure the pan is VERY hot! - #1 mistake people make when browning meat is starting before the pan is hot enough. This will lead to sad, gray meat. Nobody wants sad, gray meat. Get yo pan hot people!
Kill it on one side (KIOOS)! - When you turn the meat, it will release moisture, halting the browning process. Maximize the caramelization on the first side, then flip and don’t worry about browning the other side
Don’t overcrowd your pan! - Overcrowding leads to moisture. Space out yo meat!
Be patient! - Wait for the meat to release from the pan, this means its ready to be turned.
Step 2: Building the sauce
Mix in sambal olek, sugar, garlic and ginger and sauté for 2 minutes. Add in the soy sauce water and bring up to a simmer. Allow the sauce to simmer on low for 15 minutes until it thickens and the liquid reduces by half.
Step 3: Plating
Serve the stir fry over white rice, and garnish with all you favorite toppings. This time, I went with cilantro, lime, peanuts and PLENTY of sesame seems. Enjoy!
