Don’t forget your greens!
Fancy something healthy and fresh? Well look no further than another classic Thai dish ‘Putt Pak’ which translates into stir fried vegetables. You can use a wide array of veggies, anything you like really! I like to mix and match them differently every time I cook this dish. I’ve selected some of my personal favourites: asparagus, baby broccoli, sugar snaps, and red bell peppers. This dish is so nutritious and jammed with vitamins. It is so easy to make and takes about 10 minutes to prepare. My secret is to use very fresh produce and not to over cook the green beauties, so they are nice and crunchy. Serve it with steamed Thai jasmine rice and you’ll be singing with joy.
READY TO COOK?
- Rinse the vegetables to give them a gentle clean.
- In a wok, add a splash of vegetable oil and put on a high heat.
- Fry your garlic for 10 seconds.
- Add the vegetables to the wok, tossing them regularly.
- Add a splash of water (or vegetable stock) to the vegetables.
- Pop in the generous splash of oyster sauce, a pinch of white pepper and 1 teaspoon of white sugar.
- Cook the vegetables for 3 minutes and try not do over cook them.
- Place the vegetables onto a warm plate and serve straight away.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 small bunch of asparagus – stalks trimmed
- 1 handfull of sugar snaps
- 1 small bunch of baby broccoli
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 clove of garlic – finely chopped
- vegetable oil
- white pepper
- white sugar
- oyster sauce
This is my favourite brand of oyster sauce. Magnificent flavour and smell.
Super fresh.
A Magpie's Tale 
Instead of that splash of water, try substituting chicken soup (I make mine into ice cubes for this purpose). Really gives it a lift and I use this to wean the Thais off MSG.
I agree, I tend to use chicken stock for the Thai dishes. Adds real depth to the flavour.
Thank you for your comments, I love hearing more on tips and suggestions.
Further tip. After rinsing your sparrow grass, run the stems over the index finger on your left hand (bending with your right hand) until you feel it is ready to snap, rather than bend. They all seem to have a different breaking point, but apparently this is the way to make sure you only use tender stuff.
Cooking this tonight Andy – will let you know how it is. Thanks Terry for the tip on finding where to break sparrow grass – I’ve always wondered how to find a better means than my usual guesswork. Will try it next time I have some
Awesome Pamela, please let me know how you go.
When wine goes into the food as well as the cook, much more
interesting results are assured.
– Me
If you add wine to your marinade, don’t let the meat rest any longer than 3 hours, otherwise the final product will be stringy.