How To Cook Pork Pad Ka Prow At Home

Chin Chin Executive Chef Benjamin Cooper is here to guide you every step of the way.

Who are you and what do you do?
Benjamin Cooper, Executive Chef of Chin Chin.

What’s your favourite dish?
Tricky – curry is probably my favourite but I love love LOVE Beef Wellington!

What’s your favourite budget meal to cook?
Burritos/tacos – a family favourite, great crowd pleaser and huge range of variation so it doesn’t get boring.

What are you cooking for us today?
Pork Pad Ka Prow, found on page 238 of the Chin Chin ‘Feed Me’ Cookbook

Ingredients

750g fatty pork mince, coarsely ground
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 tbs scud paste
3 Lebanese eggplants, roll cut
100g snake beans, cut into 5mm lengths
1 punnet baby corn, roll cut
4 large red chillies, cut into shards, plus 1 extra, sliced, for garnish
¼ cup fish sauce
¼ cup oyster sauce
¼ cup soy sauce
1 tbs caster sugar
2 tbs julienned ginger
2 bunches holy basil, leaves picked
2 eggs
2 tbs crispy shallots
1 tbs crispy garlic
15 scud chillies

Method

1. In a large heated wok, cook pork mince. Remove and reserve.
2. Reheat wok to hot and add oil. Add scud paste and eggplant, and stir-fry until lightly coloured. Add beans, baby corn and chilli shards, and continue to stir.
3. Add cooked pork mince and sauces, and continue to stir-fry until the flavours have combined and the ingredients are fragrant. Remove from heat.
4. Add the sugar, ginger and basil, season with a large pinch of white pepper, and toss lightly. Transfer to a serving plate.
5. Fry eggs lightly (the yolks should still be runny). Place on the top of the cooked mince, then garnish with sliced chilli and crispy shallots and garlic. Serve with scud chillies on the side.

What do you think is the most overlooked ingredient in the average supermarket?
Chilli flakes or tahini, they deserve love too.

What’s one utensil every kitchen should have?
Other than a great chef's knife and chopping board; measuring equipment – so either good scales or measuring jug/measuring spoons.

You only have 5 minutes in the grocery store – what do you fill your basket with to last you a week?
Good evoo, Pasta, Turkish bread, Hummus, Cereal, Vegemite, Salted butter, Juice, Tomatoes/zucchini/eggplant/broccoli/cos lettuce/garlic/red onion, Tinned beans/lentils, Jar of artichokes, Coconut cream, Fruits, Ham/prosciutto/salami, Blueberry jam, Peanut butter, Sea salt, Chili flakes, Tahini, Icy poles.

Who would be at your dream dinner party?
My wife – Fiona Cooper, Dame Judy Dench, Ricky Gervais, Pharrell, Dominique Crenn, Neil Degrasse Tyson, Ronnie Fieg, Ross Edgley, Grace Jones, Róisín Murphy, Iggy Pop, Clive Barker, David Attenborough, Jeff Staple, Helen Mirren.

Where’s the best place to find your takeaway menu?
For our Melbourne CBD and Richmond takeaway you can find it on www.chinchin.melbourne and for Sydney (Surry Hills) you can visit www.chinchin.sydney. Our venues are open from 4pm daily. And we’re also offering 50% off for all Healthcare workers between 4pm and 6pm, as a token of our appreciation for all their hard work! (Visit www.lucas.online/media for t&c’s).