Dinner · 20 min · thai

Pad Cha Talay

Dinner decisions, handled: Pad Cha Talay pairs mixed seafood with fingerroot for a 20-minute Thai dinner.

Ingredients

• 1.5 lb Mixed seafood
• 3 oz Fingerroot
• 6 Thai chilies
• 2 tbsp Green peppercorns
• 6 Kaffir lime leaves
• 1 cup Thai basil
• 2 tbsp Oyster sauce
• 2 tbsp Fish sauce

Steps

1. Pound the chilies and half the fingerroot to a coarse paste — pad cha is wild, herbal heat, not curry-paste heat.
2. Sear the seafood in a screaming-hot wok 2 minutes; remove while still underdone.
3. Fry the chili paste 30 seconds until it hits your nose, then add the remaining fingerroot, peppercorns, and torn lime leaves.
4. Return the seafood with oyster sauce, fish sauce, and a splash of water; toss 2 minutes until just cooked through.
5. Kill the heat and fold in a massive handful of Thai basil — it should wilt, not cook.
6. Serve immediately over rice with lime; pad cha means “stir-fried with wild aromatics,” and restraint is not the point.
7. Warn guests: the green peppercorns pop with sudden, floral heat.

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