Recipes

Garlic Pork

Moo Kratiem

Thin-sliced pork in a sweet garlic-oyster gravy, topped with crispy fried garlic

Prep

5 min

Cook

5 min

Serves

4

Heat

mild

This is about as simple as a one-dish Thai meal gets: thin pork slices cooked in a sweet, garlicky oyster sauce gravy, built by frying the pork with garlic, then layering in sauce and sugar until it turns dark and sticky before a final splash of water pulls it all together into a proper gravy. What elevates it is the fried garlic on top, made fresh rather than bought pre-fried, which adds a crisp, nutty crunch and a much stronger garlic flavor than the packaged version most restaurants use. It's a fast, low-effort dish built for a quick lunch over rice.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Garlic (peeled, finely chopped)
• 1 cup Vegetable oil (for frying the garlic)
• 1 cup Pork tenderloin (sliced wafer-thin)
• 4 Garlic, large cloves (roughly chopped or ground)
• 4 tablespoons Oyster sauce
• 2 2/3 tablespoons Light soy sauce
• 2 2/3 tablespoons Sugar
• 4 tablespoons Vegetable oil (for stir-frying)

Directions

1. Slice the pork tenderloin into wafer-thin slices. Measure the remaining ingredients.
2. Finely chop the garlic for the topping. Heat the cup of oil in a small flat pan over medium heat until hot but not smoking.
3. Add the chopped garlic and shake the pan to keep it loose while it fries — this takes under a minute. Remove the moment it starts to brown, since it turns bitter if it burns.
4. Pour through a strainer and shake off the oil, continuing to shake as it cools so the pieces don't clump together. Set aside.
5. Roughly chop the remaining garlic for the pork. Heat the stir-fry oil in a hot wok and fry the garlic for a few seconds.
6. Add the pork and fry until nearly cooked through — it will turn mostly white.
7. Add the oyster sauce and soy sauce. Stir in and fry for about a minute.
8. Add the sugar and stir in. Fry until the sugar melts and the sauce turns dry, sticky, and well browned.
9. Add a splash of water, stirring to deglaze the pan and build a gravy. Cook about a minute more, until thick and sticky again.
10. Spoon over hot jasmine rice. Dust with a little white pepper and top generously with the crispy fried garlic. Garnish with cilantro and serve immediately.

Notes

Pull the fried garlic from the oil the instant it starts to brown — it keeps cooking in the residual heat, and even a few extra seconds turns it bitter.

Substitutions

Chicken breast works just as well as pork tenderloin in this dish with no other changes needed.