Put your wok to work with this simple yet flavourful Thai recipe.
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What’s there not to love about beef stir fry? The beef is so tender and juicy, it’s filled with aromatic flavours and it’s straightforward to make, but the element in this recipe that distinguishes this beef dish from many others, is the sweet-sour chilli jam.
Nam Prik Pao (known as chilli jam), is a commonly used ingredient in many Thai recipes. It’s well known for being a versatile ingredient in Thai cooking and for its long standing history. The chilli paste has played a big role in Thailand’s food history and has roots that date back to ancient times, long before Chinese cooking styles had any influence over the cuisine.
Foodifox chef Paula shares that “this is definitely a staple ingredient that you’ll want to have stocked up in your pantry if you’re thinking about exploring authentic Thai food!”. Being one of her all time favourite Thai dishes, Paula loves the balance of sweet, spicy, salty and savoury flavours and feels very fortunate to have learnt this dish straight from the Royal Bussaracum in Thailand.
Recipe:
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
1kg Topside beef
4 tbsp vegetable oil
2 brown onions
¼ cup chilli jam/paste
¼ cup oyster sauce
⅛ cups red curry paste
½ cup tapioca flour
2 red chillies
3 garlic cloves
600g french beans
15 lime leaves
15 basil leaves
Method:
Slice the top side beef into long 1cm strips. It’s important to slice against the grain to make beef strips tender. Lightly coat the beef strips in tapioca flour and set aside.
Chop the onion into wedges, dice the garlic and chilli, cut the French beans in half and finely chop the lime leaves.
Add 2 tbsp of vegetable oil to a wok (or pot) and set to high heat. To test if the oil is ready, drop a tiny amount of flour into the wok, if it bubbles then the oil is hot enough to start frying. Add the beef strips into the wok and toss them. As soon as you start to see the outside of the beef strips change to a light brown colour, take them out of the wok and set aside.
In the same wok, add another 2 tbsp of oil and fry the onion and garlic until lightly brown. Add the chilli, french beans, curry paste and oyster sauce. Cook for around 2 minutes or until completely heated through. This will give the stir fry a thick and caramelised texture.
Add beef strips back into the wok and toss until they are covered in the sauce. Add the lime leaves to the wok just before serving the dish.
