Chef Andy Ricker, who owns the Pok Pok Thai restaurants, picked up this preparation of stir-fried fiddleheads — aka phat phak kuut – from a restaurant in Phrae province, south of Chiang Mai in Thailand. After you’ve got the fiddleheads cleaned, it’s easy and delicious: super-savory, with a killer, really satisfying texture. The following recipe is Ricker’s, edited; notes on the shortcuts I took follow. Get fiddlin’!
Ingredients
- 1 pound fiddlehead ferns (about 4 cups)
- Salt
- 2 tablespoons’ worth of garlic cloves
- 4 to 10 small, fresh Thai chilies, depending on your tolerance for heat
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil (see note)
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce (Tiparos or Squid brands are good and common)
- 4 tablespoons oyster sauce, preferably a Thai brand like Maekhrua (see note)
- 1 tablespoon superfine sugar
- ¼ teaspoon MSG (see note)
- Freshly ground white pepper to finish
- ½ cup pork stock.
- Nutritional Information
Nutritional analysis per serving (2 servings)
406 calories; 29 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 17 grams monounsaturated fat; 8 grams polyunsaturated fat; 29 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 10 grams sugars; 13 grams protein; 2523 milligrams sodium
Note: Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available data.
Makes 2 to 4 servings, depending on what else is on the table.
Preparation
- Clean the fiddleheads by soaking them in cold water and shaking them dry in a colander. Trim the stem of each within an inch or two of the curled top. Slip off any slimy brown skin. Pick over for sticks, dirt and bugs. (Hey, they’re wild!)
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it well.
- Smash the garlic and chilies into a rough, lumpy paste in a mortar and pestle.
- Blanch the ferns for a minute or two. Meanwhile, heat the oils in a wok or wok-style pan over medium heat. Add garlic and chilies and cook until fragrant but not brown.
- Take the ferns out of the blanching water, shake them dry in a colander for a few seconds (a little water is not a problem) and toss into the wok. Crank the heat all the way up. Stir-fry for a minute, add the fish sauce, stir-fry again for a few seconds, then add the oyster sauce, sugar, MSG and white pepper. Stir-fry for a few more seconds, then add the stock and cook until sauce is thicker than water but nowhere near a glaze.
- Serve on a large platter or in a shallow bowl. Eat hot.
- Ricker uses rice bran oil to cook with, Thai oyster sauce and pork stock in this dish. I used peanut oil, Lee Kum Kee brand Chinese oyster sauce that’s at every better deli downtown, and water in place of pork stock. I’m sure I offended some Thai-authenticity deity, but the dish still came out awesome.
- Ricker says that Thai oyster sauce is mellower and less salty than Chinese, so be on the lookout for it. MSG is optional – he doesn’t use it at his restaurant, but he says they would do so in Thailand. And make sure to use superfine sugar – it’s cut with cornstarch, which adds a nice glossiness to the sauce.
30 minutes
Dining and Cooking