Fried Pork and Long Beans

A substantial stir-fried main dish, Moo Pad Tua Fak Yaw was introduced to me by one of my household cooks, Lad Da.

Lad Da would occasionally disappear “up country” for a week at a time when some special family occasion would call. (Any place over a few kilometers from the perimeter of Bangkok is referred to, regardless of direction, as “up country.”) Lad Da’s uncle, whom she visited frequently during her absences, owned a general store which was the commerce and social hub of