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Korean-Style Thai Pad Kra Pao: Garlic Scape Pork Fried Rice
6~8
15 minutes
15 minutes
30 minutes
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Ingredients

  • Rice – 6 to 8 servings (cooked rice, about one bowl per serving)
  • Pork shoulder – 550g (about 1.2 lbs; ground or finely chopped pork shoulder, also called foreleg cut)
  • Garlic scapes – 300g (about 10.5 oz; also known as garlic stems)
  • Cheongyang chili peppers – 3 (Korean hot green chili peppers; can substitute with jalapeño or serrano peppers)
  • Garlic – 15 cloves
  • Green onion – 150g (about 5.3 oz)
  • Gochugaru – 1 T (Korean red chili pepper flakes)
  • Egg – to taste (as many as you like, for frying)
  • (1 T = 15 ml / 0.5 fl oz, 1 t = 5 ml / 0.17 fl oz)

Sauce

  • Sugar – 1 T
  • Pepper – to taste
  • Mirin – 2 T (Japanese sweet rice wine)
  • Fish sauce – 4 T
  • Jin-ganjang – 1 T (Korean soy sauce used for everyday cooking; regular soy sauce works as a substitute)
  • Dark soy sauce – 1 T (also called no-chu or lao chou, a Chinese-style aged soy sauce used mainly for color; regular soy sauce can be substituted if unavailable)
  • Oyster sauce – 1 T
  • (1 T = 15 ml / 0.5 fl oz, 1 t = 5 ml / 0.17 fl oz)

How to Make It

  • Finely chop all the vegetables.
    Tip.Cut the garlic scapes into small pieces, about the size of a pea. This keeps the texture soft and makes them much easier to eat.
  • Heat plenty of oil in a pan and sauté the green onion and garlic over medium heat until golden and fragrant.
  • Once golden, add a spoonful of gochugaru and stir-fry well.
  • Once the gochugaru is fully mixed in, push everything to one side of the pan and add the ground pork to cook.
  • When the pork is just slightly underdone and still a bit pink, add all the sauce ingredients and continue stir-frying.
  • Once the pork is fully cooked and the sauce has soaked in, add the garlic scapes and stir-fry.
  • Stir-fry for another 2 to 3 minutes, then add a spoonful of sugar and pepper to taste before finishing.
    Tip.Adding sugar too early can cause it to burn and turn bitter, so it's best saved for the very end, almost like coating the dish in a thin glaze. The sugar also helps round out the pungent edge of the fish sauce, balancing the overall flavor.
  • Fry an egg to top the dish.
    Tip.Use plenty of oil and make sure the pan is well heated before adding the egg - this gives it a crisp, almost deep-fried texture that makes all the difference.
  • Scoop a generous portion of rice into a bowl, then top with the stir-fried pork and the fried egg. Your Thai-style fried rice is ready.