Beef in Oyster Sauce – Nuea Pad Namman Hoi

Beef in Oyster Sauce or Nuea Pad Namman Hoi as it is known in Thai had to be my favourite Thai dish after Pad Thai and Nuea Pad Namman Hoi beats any Chinese restaurant version.

The first time I ate Nuea Pad Namman Hoi was in the Nat Guest House, Khaosan Road (ถนนข้าวสาร) in Bangkok. It was after a long journey which included a stop over in Kuwait City we arrived in Bangkok feeling exhausted. I opted to take the local bus instead of getting a taxi and made my way to this back packers favourite Bangkok destination! It was certainly a day I will never forget and it was a day that changed my life. Anyway, getting off near this famous street with direction given me by a Thai passenger on the bus. I found the Nat Guest House and booked in. I think it cost 50 baht a night at the time and it certainly wasn’t luxurious.

After a few hours sleep we freshened up and made our way down stairs to the the restaurant and our first evening in Bangkok. A little intimidated we opted for the first night just to wander up and down Khaosan Road and take in this small section of the city. Back at the Nat I order Nuea Pad Namman Hoi and a large Singha beer. The beer cost twice as much the food, but it was my introduction to a love affair with Thailand! This was certainly my meal of choice for the couple of days we had in Bangkok and it is one I love to cook myself.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

250g beef steak preferably flank steak, sliced 1cm thick against the grain
1 medium onion, sliced thinly
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed or finely sliced
8 small spring onions
150g button mushrooms, halved
8-10 baby corns cut in half at an angle
2 medium tomatoes cut into 8th’s
1/4 cucumber, sliced at an angle
12 or so mangetout with ends cut off.
1 green or red chilli, sliced or thai chillies if you like more heat
2 tbsp vegetable oil
6 tbsps Oyster sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 tbsp palm sugar, normal sugar if palm not available
125ml wate

Preparation method:

First season the beef with pepper and chilli powder then in your wok heat up 1 tbsp of oil and fry the beef until brown but still tender and set aside.

Wipe out the wok and return to heat and add the rest of the oil and fry onion until golden then add the garlic and chilli and quickly fry for a couple of minutes. Add the rest of the vegetables and the fish sauce, quickly fry for a few minutes then return the beef and juices and add the white pepper, sugar and oyster sauce. If need add more fish sauce and splash water in to increase the sauce but you don’t want it swimming. Lastly cut the green ends off the spring onions leaving about 6 cm of green and slice this down the middle to the white but not cutting the white bulb. Add this to the rest and stir for a couple of minutes then serve with some Thai Jasmine rice.

Enjoy!