Small Comforts
Eating Pad Kra Pao in Hong Kong + Minced Pork with Chili with Basil at Home
For the last week, as America has spoken, I’ve been in Hong Kong. It was fun; it was hectic. Jetlag, work to-do lists, friend dinners and election anxiety contributed to jagged sleep cycles and bleary eyes. To sooth my nerves there were wonton noodles and xiao long bao. There were also sourdough egg tarts from a French patisserie, lemongrass barramundi grilled in banana leaves at a modern Vietnamese hang out, and Grand Cru Chasselas from Switzerland at Caprice Wine Bar. When it came to food and wine as a small comfort, there was no shortage of options.
I know when I come to Hong Kong, “Asia’s World City” as the tourism board bills it, the food possibilities are endless. However, of all the cuisines I could dive into and regions to explore on the plate, the one thing I know will always eat, without fail, is a Thai dish: pad kra pao.
In Hong Kong, I have eaten stir fried minced pork with holy basil, pad kra pao as it is called in Thai, more times than I can count. At one restaurant in particular, Spice House (one of its several aliases) I have eaten it in no less than six addresses as they have moved location and changed names, that’s how much their food calls to me.
When I first came across Spice House it was the perfect mirage. Inside the cramped alleys of the Wan Chai wet market, across from a butcher with pork legs, pink and meaty, hanging from the ceiling, a glass store front looked into a dining room with customers packed on low stools, elbow to elbow. Every time the front door slid open, smells of garlic, chili and herbs hitting a wok wafted into the alley, pushing away other malodorous offerings from nearby vendors. The restaurant was always busy, locals hunched over steaming bowls of kao soi and boat noodles, green curry and stir fries topped with egg, placed on tables by smiling servers wishing you “sawatdi kha”. The whole operation had the feeling of being in a Thai auntie’s kitchen, having your belly filled with warm food, fortified for whatever the day had in store.
For my husband and me, Spice House was our spot to refuel after a long night hike, washing down plates of pad thai with ice-cold Singha beers. When I was pregnant, the baby growing inside got his first taste of serious spice with morning glories cooked with garlic and Thai birds eye chili alongside bowls of bracing tom yum soup. But more than any other dish, it was the pad kra pao we came back for again and again – a workman’s plate of minced meat seasoned liberally with fish sauce and aromatic with holy basil, a dish as simple in its ingredients as it is bold in flavor.
Before this trip, Hong Kong and pad kra pao were both on my mind. But I couldn’t wait for the flight.
I have three types of basil growing in the garden at the moment, including a Thai purple variety – not quite the same as the traditional holy basil, but it will do. Consulting a few cookbooks and some websites, I settled on a ratio of fish sauce, oyster sauce and soy sauce, best suited to my taste. I packed the stir fry with minced green beans to make it a one dish meal and livened the whole pan with a lift of lime juice. It was not Spice House, but in about twenty minutes, far less than the time it would take for Thai delivery to arrive, I had something of the familiar, satisfying taste.
On Election Day in the United States, most people went to sleep not sure how things were going to end up. In Hong Kong my husband and I watched as the results continued to come in, not in the direction we had hoped. Come dinner time, fighting the uncanny feeling of déjà vu from 2016, we went in search of something to fill the pit in our stomachs. We wandered into Soho without a clear destination. There, in the pulsing heart of Hong Kong’s nightlife, streets crowded with Happy Hour revelers oblivious to our American issues.
We found our way to Tai Kwun, the former Central Police Station renovated to house restaurants surrounding the open courtyards of the colonial era building. We pulled up two seats at a bar and ordered cold beers, something to wash away the sadness. The menu was limited - this was food for drinking. We picked a noodle dish and a stir fry, to share. Only as we scooped into the minced wagyu beef mingled with basil leaf did I occur to me that I had found my way to the dish without even trying. It was beef, yes, but it was still pad kra pao.
I wrote most of this newsletter before we left for Hong Kong, struggling to find the words mid-week to finish. A story of pork with basil leaves felt so small compared to weightier issues of the world beyond our control.
As it turned out the week got much better. Hong Kong’s hiking trails beckoned with their verdant beauty while old friendships rekindled over spicy noodles and as if no time had passed. At our U-GO event, we raised enough money to change the lives of over 1,030 young women from low-income countries with the promise of university education. These comforts lay within the things I could control: seeking natural beauty and health, the strength of friendship, and committing to help young women from poor families have the same opportunities I have been given, so they can make better lives for themselves and their families.
Maybe that is why we reach for comfort food in uncertain times. It is something small we have the power to choose each day, to bring us nutrition and pleasure. Of course, a choice you make every day – for joy and health, enjoyed alone or with loved ones – is far, far more than a small comfort.
Minced Pork with Chilies and Basil (Pad Kra Pao)
Note: Get all your ingredients chopped, sliced and measured before you start cooking. This dish comes together fast. If you are making your own rice, begin steaming before you start chopping and it should be perfectly fluffy by the time you are done cooking. If you don’t own a wok, a large, stainless steel frying pan will also work. If you are gluten-free, swap tamari and oyster-style sauce for the soy and oyster sauce below, but you may want to punch up the flavor with an extra splash of fish sauce.
Serves: 4
2 T. vegetable oil
2 shallots, peeled and sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 – 2 Thai bird’s eye chilies, stem removed, thinly sliced
1 lb. ground pork, 80% lean meat/20% fat (you want the higher fat ratio in this dish for the flavor)
¾ cup French sting beans or Chinese long beans (about ½ lb.), cut into ¼ inch slices
2 T. oyster sauce
2 T. light soy sauce
1 T. fish sauce
2 tsp. brown sugar
½ cup. Chicken stock
¼ tsp white (or black) pepper
½ lime, juiced
1 cup basil leaves attached to tender stems, loosely packed
Heat vegetable oil in a large work over high heat. Once hot, add shallots and garlic, sautéing for two minutes until soft and lightly caramelized but not burnt. Add chilies and sauté for another minute until fragrant. Add pork and cook, breaking up the meat with a metal spatula until browned and in small pieces. Add string beans, oyster sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce and brown sugar. Add chicken stock. Bring to a rapid simmer until slightly reduced. Stir in black pepper and lime juice. Toss in basil and turn off heat. Basil will wilt lightly. Serve with white rice and additional chilies and lime wedges.
To Drink…
At the U-GO fundraiser we were lucky to have the support of our friends at Watson’s Wine as well as Moët Hennessy Diageo. One of my only directives to the banquet staff in our pre-event briefing: no empty wine glasses! As you can see by the photo above, the staff, and our guests, obliged.
It was a world class line up of Old World vs. New World. While most of us won’t be drinking Chateau Pichon-Longueville 2018 on the regular (one of the great chateaux of Bordeaux) there was one Old World selection in the line up that was an excellent find, and dare I say, value… at least for Burgundy.
Domaine de la Jobeline Macon Verze en Previsy, Burgundy, France 2021
A historic domaine recently acquired by famed Burgundy house Domaine Leflaive, this white is round and ripe, though leaner, with more crisp, crunchy apple notes than many Macons. This has enough body to stand up to your Thanksgiving turkey while also being a nice choice for rich pastas dishes, like Creamy Peas and Prosciutto Pasta.
In Hong Kong, available from Watsons Wine for HKD 240. In the United States, at Zachy’s for $44.99. Also available from Crush.