Cooking in

Port Moody · Metro Vancouver

Nearest city · Vancouver Change

Thai

Phad Pak Bung Fai Daeng (Morning Glory Stir-Fried with Chilli and Yellow Bean)

Water morning glory (pak bung — Ipomoea aquatica) stir-fried at extreme heat with garlic, fresh chillies, yellow bean sauce (tao jiew), oyster sauce, and fish sauce — one of the most dramatic wok preparations in the Thai street food canon and one of the few in which the vegetable's quality is the primary variable. Morning glory's hollow stems and tender leaves wilt rapidly and completely in 2 minutes of extreme wok heat — but they wilt to a bright, vivid green rather than a collapsed grey-green because the extreme heat instantly evaporates the surface moisture and begins the Maillard process on the outer surface before the interior moisture can steam the vegetable.

‹Swipe for the next dish›

ServesTwo to three portions as part of a shared Thai table

Within reach4of 6 in Port Moody

Four in town · two not yet within reach.

How the 6 are reached

In town: 4 · garlic cloves, oyster sauce, fish sauce, neutral oil
Not yet within reach: 2 · water morning glory (pak bung / Ipomoea aquatica), yellow bean sauce (tao jiew)

Cook

‹ Previous · Papaya Salad (Som Tum): The Definitive Preparation|Next · Phak Boong Fai Daeng Nam Prik Dek — Morning Glory with Fermented Shrimp / ผักบุ้งไฟแดงน้ำพริกเด็ก ›

The Market List

The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.

400 g

water morning glory (pak bung / Ipomoea aquatica)

cut into 8–10 cm sections, stems and leaves included

Not yet within reach of Port Moody · each reach is counted

garlic cloves

roughly crushed

In town · Pasta D'Angelo →

3–4

fresh red chillies

bruised or roughly sliced

Your own market

2 tbsp

yellow bean sauce (tao jiew)

fermented yellow soybean paste

Not yet within reach of Port Moody · each reach is counted

1 tbsp

oyster sauce

In town · Bosa Foods · Vancouver → · also Angel Seafoods · Vancouver, Atkinson's of Vancouver · Vancouver · 1 more

1 tbsp

fish sauce

In town · Bosa Foods · Vancouver →

2 tbsp

neutral oil

high smoke-point

In town · Bosa Foods · Vancouver → · also Angel Seafoods · Vancouver, Gourmet Warehouse · Vancouver · 1 more

Within reach counts in town, delivered, shipped and the nearest city. A staple counts once it has a local seller. Charted from each shop's own pages; not yet vouched by a cook who shops here.

The larder of Port Moody →

Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.

The Method

Set a wok over the highest available flame and leave it until it begins to smoke, because a wok that has not reached full temperature will steam the vegetables rather than sear them. Add the oil and swirl to coat. The oil should shimmer and begin to smoke within seconds — if it does not, the wok is not yet hot enough; wait.

Add the garlic and fresh chillies, tossing them continuously against the wok surface for no more than 15–20 seconds, so their raw edge burns off and their fragrance opens immediately rather than turning acrid from overcolouring. They should colour at the edges and release a sharp, roasted note — not a slow sweat.

Add the tao jiew, oyster sauce, and fish sauce directly to the wok and stir once to combine with the aromatics, so the sauces hit the metal and begin to caramelise rather than simply warming through. They will bubble and tighten against the surface within seconds.

From the canon — Tao jiew (Thai yellow bean sauce) is fermented whole soybeans in salty brine — a Chinese-origin condiment fully integrated into the Thai pantry and used in a… Tao Jiew — Thai Fermented Soybean Paste / เต้าเจี้ยว →

Add the morning glory stems first, then the leaves immediately after. This is where the dish lives or dies: the wok temperature at the moment of the vegetable's addition must be at its absolute maximum and must remain so throughout, because the morning glory releases water continuously, cooling the wok — toss without pause, ensuring every section contacts the wok surface in sequence, for the full 2 minutes of cooking. The vegetable is done when the stems are just tender and the leaves have wilted to a bright, vivid green — not a collapsed grey-green, which signals a failed wok temperature.

Transfer immediately to a plate so the morning glory does not continue to cook from the residual heat of the wok. The finished dish carries a faint char at the leaf edges and a clean smoke note. Serve at once.

III

Quality Hierarchy

Reserve — Morning glory harvested same-day from a wet market, stems still turgid and snapping cleanly; tao jiew from a small-batch Thai producer with visibly whole or half-crushed beans.

Estate — Morning glory purchased that morning, stored dry and unrefrigerated; imported Thai tao jiew of consistent fermentation quality.

Market — Morning glory from a general Asian grocer, used within 24 hours; standard commercial tao jiew from any reputable brand.

House — Morning glory that has been refrigerated and shows slight limpness — the wok heat will still cook it, but the snap and sweetness of a fresh stem cannot be recovered. Acceptable; not ideal.

Sensory Tests

◇Sight. The wok smokes before the oil is added — a dry, ashen smoke rising from the metal itself.

◇Sound. A sharp, sustained hiss on contact when the morning glory hits the wok; a soft, muffled sound indicates insufficient temperature.

◇Sight. Leaves wilt to a bright, vivid green within 2 minutes; any shift toward grey-green is the signal that wok temperature has been lost.

◇Smell. A clean smoke note — wok hei — present in the finished dish, distinct from the smell of steam or boiling.

◇Where it lives or dies. The dish is decided by the wok temperature at the moment the morning glory is added: maximum heat must be sustained without interruption for the full 2 minutes, or the vegetable steams grey rather than sears green.

V · Cross-Cuisine Parallels

Chinese stir-fried water spinach (kongxin cai) with fermented tofu or garlic — the same vegetable, a related sauce logic, identical wok-heat discipline. Cantonese wok hei technique applied to leafy greens — the principle of flame contact and continuous tossing to prevent steaming is shared across the broader Chinese wok canon from which Thai street-wok cooking draws.

Pillar V

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What to Pour

Pouring for British Columbia · change · near Port Moody

The pairing

Almave Humo

Almave

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

Non-alcoholic

From British Columbia

Nothing from British Columbia holds against this yet.

Without alcohol

Americano — Burundi Kayanza (Gatukuza Women Group)

Gatukuza Women Group

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

Coffee

Why each one works is part of membership — Enter · from $49 a year →

The whole pairing

VII · Origin & Lineage

Water morning glory stir-fries belong to the Thai street food canon, where the dish is known as pak bung fai daeng — morning glory on red fire — named for the visible open-flame technique employed by vendors. The dramatic flung-wok preparation, in which the dressed wok is arced through the flame above the burner to achieve direct fire contact on the vegetable, is specific to the Thai street context. The dish's sauce logic — tao jiew combined with oyster sauce — reflects the layered Chinese influence on Thai urban cooking, particularly the Teochew fermented-paste tradition present throughout Thai culinary culture. Documented in David Thompson, Thai Food (2002) and Thai Street Food (2010).

Pillar VII

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Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.

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The working kitchen

Cost this recipe

Part of The Profession · ingredient costs and your margin

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HACCP brief

Part of The Profession · the food-safety plan

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Sourced through Provenance