Thai Omelet with Minced Pork
Kai Jeow Moo Sap
Ground pork mixed into whipped egg and fried into a golden, solid omelet
- Prep
- 5 min
- Cook
- 3 min
- Serves
- 4
- Heat
- mild
This omelet works on a simple principle: mix raw ground pork directly into whipped egg before it ever hits the pan, so the meat's juices render straight into the egg as it cooks rather than sitting as a separate filling. Frying in a generous amount of oil, closer to shallow-frying than pan-frying, is what gives Thai omelets their characteristic golden, slightly crisp exterior and solid, pancake-like structure, very different from the soft, barely-set omelets common elsewhere. It's humble, everyday food, most often served simply over rice with a little cucumber and a spicy dip on the side.
Ingredients
- 5 Chicken eggs
- 1 1/3 cups Ground pork loin (raw)
- 1 1/3 teaspoons Light soy sauce
- 1 1/3 teaspoons Fish sauce
- 1 cup Vegetable oil (for frying)
Directions
- Whip the eggs well with a whisk or fork. Mix in the light soy sauce, fish sauce, and raw ground pork.
- Heat the oil in a wok over low-medium heat — not too hot, or the egg will burn before the pork has time to cook through.
- Pour the mixture into the oil. It will spread and begin to bubble. Let it cook undisturbed on one side for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Once the bottom is browned and the pork juices are visibly mixing into the egg, carefully lift and flip the omelet with a large spatula. Uncooked egg will pour out into the pan — that's fine, just set the cooked side face up over it so everything combines into one solid piece.
- Continue cooking, flipping as needed, until golden brown all over and solidly cooked through, with no pink remaining in the pork.
- Lift out and let the oil drain off, using a rack or paper towel as needed.
- Serve on a shared plate or over rice as a one-dish meal, with sliced cucumber, spicy ketchup, or chili fish sauce on the side.
Notes
Keep the oil at a gentle temperature rather than very hot — the pork needs a couple of minutes to cook through, and oil that's too hot browns the egg before the meat inside is done.
Substitutions
Ground chicken or beef can replace the pork with no other changes to the method.