Pad pong karee or ‘fried in curry sauce’ is an interesting Thai dish. At first glance, you would think it was a Malay or Chinese dish. This cooking technique is most often used with crab (boo pad pong karee) and seems visually rather similar to Singapore Chilli Crab.
In fact, the entire preparation of this dish is quite unlike traditional Thai cuisine. Curry powder is used instead of whole spices that are ground into a paste. Instead of thickening up the curry with coconut cream, this dish uses (vegan) egg to achieve that effect. But, omg, it is so good.
Tofu works great in a vegan pad pong karee. I first tried tofu pad pong karee at a little restaurant called Viewpoint in Koh Tao about 10 years ago. My Thai friend ordered it for me and I fell in love with it immediately. Unfortunately, my Thai pronunciation was really bad back then and every time I tried to order this on my own I received some version of pad boong (fried kangkong)! Sad but true.
Anyway, I can spare myself the humiliation now that I can make this dish at home. The mashed tofu is a perfect egg substitute and the entire dish is so slurpy and saucy. This dish is great when you have it piping hot with plain rice.
Tips
- I like it soft (I am lazy) but you can add some celery or bell pepper for texture crunch.
- The curry powder you use is important! Try to find a proper Indian or Malay curry powder with some heat.
- For nam prik pao, I use Maepranom Vegetarian Thai Chilli Paste. To make your own, check out this awesome recipe by MessyVeganCook.
- For the non-dairy milk, choose something that is thicker like soy, coconut, or macadamia. A thin milk like almond won’t be as tasty.
- If you prefer a wetter sauce, add more stock in Sauce Part 1 and more non-dairy milk in Sauce Part 2.
Ingredients
- For Vegan Egg
- Sauce Part 1
- Sauce Part 2