Aubergine, Green Bean and Tofu Pad Krapow
by Meera Sodha
Pad kra pao, which translates as ‘holy basil stir-fry’, is a contender for the most popular and beloved street-food dish of Thailand. I like to call it ‘kraPOW!’ because its starring ingredient, holy basil, has a very vibrant clove-meets-pepper flavour which, tossed through at the last minute, gives whopping great strength, beauty and vitality to this dish.
Method
Based on 4 servings, adjust as needed.
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 200°C fan/220°C/gas 7.
Step 2
Tip the aubergine on to a large baking tray (or two) lined with baking paper – make sure the cubes have plenty of room – drizzle with 4 tablespoons of oil (if cooking for 4), scatter over some salt, mix and roast for 30 minutes. Put the beans on top, stir so that the beans are coated in the oil and roast for another 10 minutes, until all the vegetables are tender.
Step 3
Pat the tofu dry with kitchen paper and cut into 1cm cubes. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a wide non-stick frying pan and fry the tofu until crispy and brown all over, then transfer to a plate. Heat 2 more tablespoons of oil in the same pan, then add the shallots, ginger, garlic and most of the chillies and fry, stirring, for 10 minutes, until the shallots are nice and soft. Add the rice vinegar, kecap manis, dark soy sauce and sesame oil, stir everything together and cook for 2 minutes. Take off the heat and stir in the roasted vegetables, fried tofu and half the holy basil.
Step 4
Squeeze over the lime, scatter with the remaining holy basil, add a little extra chilli if you wish and serve with jasmine rice, cooked according to the packet instructions.
- Ingredients
- Based on 4 servings
-
2 pouches Cooked Jasmine Rice 2x Ben's Original Jasmine Microwave Rice 220g -
1.5 tbsp Rice Vinegar 1x Yutaka Japanese Rice Vinegar 150ml -
3 tbsp Kecap Manis 1x Malay Taste Kicap Manis 150g -
1 Lime, halved 1x Sainsbury's Limes -
3 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce 1x Amoy Soy Sauce, Dark 150ml -
2 Aubergines, cut into 2 1/2cm cubes 2x Sainsbury's Aubergine -
1 tbsp Rapeseed Oil 1x Mazola Pure Rapeseed Oil 1L -
Maldon Salt to taste, 1x Maldon Sea Salt Flakes 250g -
300g Fine Green Beans, tailed 2x Sainsbury's Fine Green Beans 200g -
280g Extra Firm Tofu, drained 1x Sainsbury's SO Organic Super Firm Tofu 300g -
4 Banana Shallots, finely sliced 1x Sainsbury's Echalion Shallots 400g -
2 tbsp Ginger, grated 1x Sainsbury's Ginger 100g -
7 Garlic Cloves, crushed 1x Sainsbury's Garlic -
3 Bird's Eye Chillies, finely chopped 1x Sainsbury's Bird Eye Chillies (Red or Green) 20g -
1.5tbsp Toasted Sesame Oil 1x KTC Pressed Toasted Pure Sesame Oil 250ml -
25g Fresh Holy Or Thai Basil, leaves picked and torn 1x Sainsbury's Thai Basil 20g