Cooking in

Penticton · the Okanagan

Nearest city · Kelowna Change

Thai · Central Thai

Pad Prik King — Dry Curry Stir-Fry / ผัดพริกขิง

Pad prik king is a dry, intensely fragrant stir-fry of pork (typically belly), tofu, or long beans with a red curry paste base and kaffir lime leaf chiffonade — essentially a curry paste stir-fried without coconut milk. The paste is fried in oil until completely fragrant and the fat separates, then the protein is added and cooked in the paste rather than in coconut milk. The absence of coconut milk produces a more concentrated, direct paste flavour. Kaffir lime leaves (fine chiffonade) are the defining finish. This dish demonstrates that curry paste has a life outside of coconut curry.

‹Swipe for the next dish›

ServesFour portions

Within reach2of 6 in Penticton

Two shipped · one elsewhere in British Columbia · three not yet within reach.

How the 6 are reached

Shipped to you: 2 · oyster sauce, palm sugar
Elsewhere in British Columbia: 1 · neutral oil
Not yet within reach: 3 · long beans, red curry paste, kaffir lime leaves

Cook

‹ Previous · Pad Pak Ruam (Mixed Vegetable Stir-Fry)|Next · Pad See Ew — Wide Rice Noodle Stir-Fry / ผัดซีอิ๊ว ›

The Market List

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

500 g

pork belly

pre-blanched, sliced 5 mm thick

Your own market

200 g

long beans

sliced at an angle into 3–4 cm lengths

Not yet within reach of Penticton · each reach is counted

3 tbsp

red curry paste

Not yet within reach of Penticton · each reach is counted

2 tbsp

neutral oil

Elsewhere in British Columbia · Sechelt Farmers' & Artisans' Market (Sat) →

kaffir lime leaves

very fine chiffonade, central rib removed

Not yet within reach of Penticton · each reach is counted

2 tbsp

fish sauce

Your own market

1 tbsp

oyster sauce

Shipped to you · T&T Supermarket →

1 tsp

palm sugar

shaved or grated

Origin · IndonesiaShipped to you · Wismettac →

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 Penticton →

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

The Method

Blanch the pork belly in unsalted simmering water until just cooked through, then drain and allow to cool before slicing to 5 mm — leaving the water unsalted keeps the fat pliable and the surface clean so the curry paste will grip the meat rather than slide off it. The slices should be uniform and firm to the touch.

From the canon — The making of a Thai curry paste in a granite mortar — the sequential pounding of aromatics from hardest and driest to most moist, each added only when the p… Curry Paste: Pounding Technique (Khreuang Gaeng) →

Heat the oil in a wok over high heat until shimmering, then add the red curry paste and fry, pressing and folding it continuously against the wok surface so the raw shrimp-paste and chilli character cooks out fully and the oil visibly separates and pools at the edges — the 'taek man' moment. This is where the dish lives or dies: in a coconut-milk-free application there is nothing to soften an under-fried paste, and the result will be harsh and sharp rather than deep and complex. The paste will darken slightly and the wok will fill with a rich, layered fragrance.

From the canon — The foundational red curry paste of the Thai kitchen — built on dried long red chillies soaked and pounded with lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime zest, coria… Red Curry Paste (Krung Gaeng Phet Daeng) →

Add the blanched pork belly slices and toss to coat each piece thoroughly in the fried paste, stir-frying over high heat so the meat colours in the paste itself rather than steaming in released liquid. No water or stock is added at any point, keeping the dish dry so the paste clings and concentrates on the pork rather than washing off into a sauce. The surfaces should be visibly coated and beginning to colour.

Add the long beans and continue to stir-fry, then season with fish sauce, oyster sauce, and palm sugar, tossing to distribute the seasoning evenly so every piece of pork and bean carries the same balance of salt, savour, and sweetness. Cook until the beans are just tender but retain clear textural resistance — they should not yield without pressure. Taste and adjust.

From the canon — Fish sauce — nam pla — is the universal salt of the Thai kitchen. Fish Sauce (Nam Pla): Selection and Use →

In the final 30 seconds, add the kaffir lime leaf chiffonade — cut to strips of 1–2 mm so the leaves are tender and release their full perfume rather than remaining fibrous and bitter — and toss once to distribute. Remove from the heat immediately; residual wok heat is enough to open the fragrance without dulling it.

From the canon — Kaffir lime leaf (from Citrus hystrix, also called makrut lime) delivers a distinct, double-lobed leaf with an aromatic intensity that dried versions only ap… Kaffir Lime Leaf: Aromatic Principle →

III

Quality Hierarchy

Reserve — House-made red curry paste, ground fresh by mortar; heritage-breed pork belly, pre-blanched; fresh kaffir lime leaves from a named grower; unrefined palm sugar in block form.

Estate — Small-batch artisan red curry paste (refrigerated, not shelf-stable); good-quality free-range pork belly; fresh kaffir lime leaves from a Thai grocer; palm sugar in paste or block.

Market — Reliable commercial red curry paste (Mae Ploy or equivalent); standard pork belly; fresh kaffir lime leaves where available, otherwise frozen; granulated palm sugar.

House — Any red curry paste to hand; pork belly or firm tofu; dried kaffir lime leaves rehydrated (flavour markedly diminished); light brown sugar as a substitute for palm sugar.

Sensory Tests

◇Sight. Oil pools visibly at the edges of the wok, separating cleanly from the fried paste — the signal that the raw paste character has been cooked out.

◇Smell. A deep, complex, fully developed fragrance rises from the wok as the paste fries; any harsh or raw-spice note indicates insufficient frying.

◇Touch. Long beans pressed between fingers yield slightly but spring back — they must not be soft or collapse under pressure.

◇Smell. The immediate release of bright, citrus-floral fragrance when kaffir lime leaf chiffonade hits the hot wok confirms the leaves are fine enough and the heat is sufficient.

◇Where it lives or dies. The paste must be fried in oil until completely fragrant and the fat visibly separates — without coconut milk to buffer it, any raw paste character will dominate and ruin the dish.

Pillar V

Cross-cuisine parallels are part of membership.

The dishes this one teaches you, across the cuisines — on every recipe.

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What to Pour

Pouring for British Columbia · change · near Penticton

A cold, lightly hopped lager or a dry sparkling water with lime; the dish's concentrated, direct paste heat and absence of coconut-milk buffering demand a palate-cleansing, non-tannic accompaniment. If wine is required, an off-dry Riesling from Alsace or the Clare Valley provides sufficient residual sugar to temper the paste's heat without competing with the aromatic kaffir lime finish.

The whole pairing

VII · Origin & Lineage

Central Thai in origin and classification — a staple of Thai home cooking in which red curry paste functions as a dry flavouring agent rather than a wet curry base. The pork belly version is the most prevalent domestic form; the tofu version occupies an established place in vegetarian Thai contexts. The dish demonstrates that curry paste has an independent culinary life outside coconut curry, with the paste's full complexity exposed more directly in the absence of coconut milk's buffering effect.

Pillar VII

Origin and lineage are part of membership.

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

Enter · from $49 a year

The working kitchen

Cost this recipe

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Sourced through Provenance