Stir-Fried Pork With Long Beans

Pounding the spice paste with a mortar and pestle is hard work, but Prasan ("Pip") Fargrajang insists that’s what brings out all the nuanced flavors. Our advice: Make a few batches of the paste and freeze them for another time.

Yield:

Serves 3 Or 4 (Main Course)

Ingredients

1. For the Seasoning Paste:
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3. 1 stalk fresh lemongrass, root end trimmed and 1 or 2 outer layers discarded
4. 3 (2- to 3-inch) dried hot Thai chiles, including seeds
5. 3 tablespoons minced shallot
6. 2 tablespoons minced garlic
7. 2 tablespoons shrimp powder or 1 1/2 tablespoons dried peeled shrimp (see cooks’ note, below)
8. 1 teaspoon minced cilantro root or stem
9. 1 teaspoon minced Kaffir lime zest or regular lime zest
10. 1 teaspoon minced peeled galangal (fresh or thawed frozen)
11. 1 teaspoon kosher salt
12. 5 black peppercorns
13. 1 teaspoon Thai shrimp paste
14. .
15. For the Beans and Pork:
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17. 1/2 lb long beans or green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
18. 3/4 lb boneless pork shoulder
19. 3 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
20. 1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce
21. 1 tablespoon packed grated palm sugar or light brown sugar
22. 3 medium Kaffir lime leaves (fresh or thawed frozen; 2 sections each), ribs discarded and leaves minced

Directions

1. Mince 1 tablespoon lemongrass from root end. Put minced lemongrass and remaining paste ingredients in mortar and vigorously pound to a smooth paste using pestle (most chile seeds should be crushed), 6 to 8 minutes.
2. Cook beans in a medium saucepan of boiling salted water (1 teaspoon salt for 2 quarts water), uncovered, until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Drain and transfer to a bowl of cold water to stop cooking. Drain again.
3. Pat pork dry, then cut across the grain into 1/8-inch-thick slices (about 2 by 1 inch).
4. Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over high heat until it shimmers, then cook seasoning paste, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add pork, tossing to coat, then spread out in skillet and brown, turning occasionally (to keep paste from burning), about 2 minutes. Add fish sauce, palm sugar, and beans and cook, tossing, until pork is just cooked through and beans are hot, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and toss with lime leaves.

Notes

If using dried shrimp, grind to a powder in an electric coffee/spice grinder or use mortar and pestle.Seasoning paste can be made ahead and chilled, covered, up to 1 week or frozen 1 month.