Cooking in
Japan
Thai
Pad Khing (Ginger Stir-Fry)
Chicken, pork, or tofu stir-fried with julienned fresh ginger, dried black wood ear mushrooms (hed hunu), spring onions, and oyster sauce — a Thai-Chinese preparation where the fresh ginger is a primary ingredient rather than a background flavouring. Pad khing is the preparation that demonstrates ginger's identity as a prominent stir-fry vegetable in Thai-Chinese cooking — a different use of the rhizome than its curry-paste role, where it appears in the background of northern Thai preparations.
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Cook
I
The Market List
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500 g
Chicken, pork, or firm tofu
sliced or cut into bite-sized pieces
Origin · Japan
120 g
Young ginger (khing orn)
peeled, julienned into matchsticks approximately 4 cm long
Origin · New Zealand
20 g
Dried black wood ear mushrooms (hed hunu)
soaked in cold water 15–20 minutes, tough base sections trimmed
Origin · China
4
Spring onions
whites and greens separated; whites cut into short lengths, greens sliced
Your own market
3 tbsp
Oyster sauce
1 tbsp
Fish sauce
Your own market
2 tbsp
Neutral oil
for the wok
II
The Method
1
Soak the dried wood ear mushrooms in cold water for 15–20 minutes, using cold rather than hot water so they rehydrate gradually and hold their pleasing snap rather than turning limp. They are ready when fully softened and pliable with no hard or dry centre remaining. Drain and trim any tough base sections.
2
Heat a wok at maximum heat until smoking before adding the oil, so the oil shimmers and coats the surface instantly rather than sitting and absorbing into the metal. Add the protein in a single layer and stir-fry, moving continuously, until nearly — but not fully — cooked through, then push to the side of the wok.
3
Add the julienned ginger to the centre of the wok and fry for 30–45 seconds without smothering it, so its raw, sharp pungency has direct contact with the hot oil and transforms into a cooked, slightly sweet, rounded aromatic. This is where the dish lives or dies: ginger added directly to the sauce without this step produces a harsher, sharper result that no amount of cooking later will correct. The cue is a bloom of warm, cooked ginger fragrance rising from the wok.
4
Add the rehydrated wood ear mushrooms and the spring onion whites, tossing them together with the protein and ginger over maximum heat so the mushrooms take on some of the wok's heat rather than cooling the pan down. Continue tossing until the mushrooms are heated through and the spring onion whites have softened slightly — approximately 30 seconds.
5
Add the oyster sauce and fish sauce, then toss the contents of the wok to coat evenly so the sauces reduce and cling rather than pool at the bottom. Taste: the balance should be savoury and ginger-forward, with the sauce binding without pooling.
From the canon — Fish sauce — nam pla — is the universal salt of the Thai kitchen. Fish Sauce (Nam Pla): Selection and Use →
6
Add the spring onion greens and toss once, then remove from the heat immediately so the residual warmth of the wok wilts the greens without robbing them of their fresh colour and bite. Serve at once.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Young ginger (khing orn) sourced from a Thai or specialist Asian grower at peak season: minimal fibre, delicate skin, clean floral heat. The mushrooms rehydrated from premium whole dried hed hunu with intact texture.
02
Estate — Young ginger from a specialist Asian grocer, firm and pale-fleshed with pink-tinged tips. Reliable dried wood ear mushrooms from an established Chinese or Thai dry-goods supplier.
03
Market — Mature ginger, quantity reduced or julienne briefly blanched in boiling water for 30 seconds before the wok to moderate aggressive pungency. Dried wood ear mushrooms from a standard supermarket Asian aisle.
04
House — Mature ginger blanched to moderate heat; tofu as the protein. The dish remains coherent but ginger-forward character is notably diminished.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Touch. Rehydrated wood ear mushrooms yield fully when pressed — no firm or dry core remains.
◇Smell. A bloom of warm, rounded, cooked ginger fragrance rises from the wok at 30–45 seconds — the signal that raw pungency has converted and the next ingredient may be added.
◇Sight. The protein is nearly opaque before being pushed aside — carry-over heat in the wok will complete it during the subsequent steps.
◇Sight. Spring onion greens wilt only slightly on contact with residual heat — the moment to serve.
◇Where it lives or dies. The ginger must fry alone in hot oil for 30–45 seconds before any liquid or other ingredient is added — this transforms its raw pungency into a cooked, rounded aromatic, and no later step can compensate for skipping it.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Sake
From Japan
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The whole pairingPillar VII
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The working kitchen