Wok tossed to perfection, kana moo grob features air-fried crispy pork belly tossed with Chinese broccoli in a soy and garlic sauce that’ll have you coming back for seconds. One of our favourite Thai dinners we order together!
In This Post You’ll Learn
Why We Love This
Full confession, this is one of our date night favourites at our local – Tiki Thai restaurant. When we’re not in Thailand sipping on Thai iced tea and pink milk, Tiki’s is definitely the next best place back home.
We love the crispy tops of the pork, and the juicy tender meat once it’s mixed through the sauce. Also being able to cook it in the air fryer is a win for us!
Related: Choo Chee Chicken / Crispy Thai Pandan Chicken
Want Extra Crunch + Crackle on Your Pork?
Get pricking!
This means before cooking your pork belly – use a knife tip or fork prongs to pop holes alllll over the skin. It’ll give you the best results for an extra 30 seconds of your time!
It’s also easiest to prick it BEFORE you slice it into strips.
What is Thai Crispy Pork Stir Fry?
Known either as kana moo grob or pad ka na moo krob, this stir fry is most popular in and around Bangkok, Thailand.
Crispy fried pork belly (moo krob) is the feature of the dish, cut into bite sized pieces and tossed together with Chinese broccoli (kana) in a sweet and salty sauce that leans on the classic Thai combination of soy sauce, garlic, oyster and fish sauce with a sprinkle of sugar.
Traditionally, the pork is boiled and deep fried, but in our recipe today, we’ve simplified the pork by air-frying it instead. You still get it just as crispy but it’s way less messy, no oil and allll the taste!
What You’ll Need
- Pork Belly – We tend to lean towards a leaner pork belly when picking out our meat for this particular recipe, just because it is chopped up once cooked, we find it has a better mouthfeel in the end dish without feeling too heavy, fatty or chewy. Sub with pork shoulder, neck or steaks and cut into stir fry strips. You can fry these in a regular frying pan with a little veggie oil, skipping the boil and deep frying if you were to use the pork belly.
- Vinegar and Salt – This mixture while boiling helps to both soften the skin AND remove that overly porky odour. Any vinegar and salt will work here!
- Chinese Broccoli – Chinese broccoli is like a mix between broccolini and spinach to us. You can sub it with gai lan, bok choy, regular broccoli – whatever greens you want really! It all works in this dish, and it’s super flexible.
- Garlic – There is SO much garlic in this recipe, and we LOVE it. We love using fresh garlic that we’ve usually chopped up and stored in the freezer ready to go. Sub with garlic powder in a pinch, but use 1 1/2 – 3 tsp, as it’s a lot more concentrated.
- Chilli Flakes – To add a nice hit of heat. This is set to a low-medium spice level, increase to omit to your personal preferences.
- Oyster Sauce, Soy Sauce, Fish Sauce and Sugar – This combination of sauces gives you the umami, salty, sour and sweet flavours you know and love in Thai cuisine.
How to Make Pad Kana Moo Grob
First, gather your ingredients: See recipe card below for measurements.
For the pork
- First make sure you’ve pricked the skin of the pork with a knife tip or fork tongs all over for max crispyness! Slice the pork belly into strips 2cm / 1 inch wide, and place into a saucepan of cold / room temp water, enough to ensure the pork is completely covered. Add in the vinegar and salt. Bring to the boil, then continue cooking for a further 5 minutes. Scoop off any foam with a spoon as the pork boils and discard.
- Remove the pork slices and pat dry with a paper towel. Allow to sit for 10-15 minutes, then pat dry again to make sure you’ve removed all excess moisture.
- Place pork strips into your air fryer at 200°C / 400°F and cook for 15 minutes on one side, then flip and cook for a further 15 minutes. If you want extra crispy skin, place it skin side down and cook for a further 5 minutes or to your liking.
- Remove pork and place on a chopping board. Slice into bite-size pieces using a large cleaver.
For the stir fry
- Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan. Add the garlic and chilli flakes, stir fry until fragrant.
- Next, add the sliced pork and fry for a minute or two. Then, add the remaining seasonings (oyster sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce and sugar). Stir fry until the pork is evenly coated.
- Add the Chinese broccoli stalks and stir fry for a minute until bright green, then add the Chinese broccoli leaves and stir fry until softened (another minute or two).
- Serve with Thai sticky rice, jasmine rice or coconut rice for an extra creamy finish.
Wandercook’s Tips
- Dry The Pork – Any excess moisture patted out of your pork will help it cook further in the air fryer.
- Use a Cleaver – The bigger and heavier the knife, the better and easier it is to chop the pork into bite-size pieces.
FAQs
Plain jasmine rice, Thai sticky rice or coconut rice work well. If you need more mains to serve a crowd, add in a plate of chicken larb and bowl of Panang chicken curry!
Boiling the pork will help to soften the fat for rendering, tenderise the meat AND reduce the cooking time. Making sure it’s all cooked through well in the air fryer.
Of course! If you don’t have an air fryer, deep fry the pork strips in vegetable or canola oil at around 175-190°C / 350-375°F for 10-12 minutes until crispy and golden. You can check their internal temperature, which should be 65°C / 145°F.
Variations
- Just Cook the Pork – Don’t want a stir fry? Just make crispy pork belly and a batch of our nam jim jaew sauce to dip it in!
- Add More Veg – You don’t HAVE to use Chinese broccoli, so feel free to use what you have, carrots, cabbage, cauliflower and regular broccoli also work well.
- Add Egg – In Thailand, it can be common to also have with a fried egg, or you could even scramble it up in the stir fry!
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★ Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment and a star rating below!
Equipment
- 1 Air fryer We used the Ninja Foodi
Ingredients
For the pork
For the stir fry
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 5 tsp garlic chopped
- 1 tsp chilli flakes sub 1 large red chilli
- 1 ½ tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 ½ tbsp soy sauce
- ½ tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- 180 g Chinese broccoli around 1 bunch / 6.34 oz, chopped, separated into leaves and stalks.
- Salt and pepper to taste
To serve
- coconut rice or jasmine rice
Instructions
For the pork
- First make sure you’ve pricked the skin of the 400 g pork belly with a knife tip or fork tongs all over for max crispyness!
- Slice the 400 g pork belly into strips 2cm / 1 inch wide, and place into a saucepan of cold / room temp water, enough to ensure the pork is completely covered. Add in the 1 tbsp vinegar and 1 tsp salt. Bring to the boil, then continue cooking for a further 5 minutes. Scoop off any foam with a spoon as the pork boils and discard.
- Remove the pork slices and pat dry with a paper towel. Allow to sit for 10-15 minutes, then pat dry again to make sure you’ve removed all excess moisture.
- Place pork strips into your air fryer at 200°C / 400°F and cook for 15 minutes on one side, then flip and cook for a further 15 minutes. If you want extra crispy skin, place it skin side down and cook for a further 5 minutes or to your liking.
- Remove pork and place on a chopping board. Slice into bite-size pieces using a large cleaver.
For the stir fry
- Heat the 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a large frying pan. Add the 5 tsp garlic and 1 tsp chilli flakes, stir fry until fragrant.
- Next, add the sliced pork and fry for a minute or two. Then, add the remaining seasonings (1 ½ tbsp oyster sauce, 1 ½ tbsp soy sauce, ½ tbsp fish sauce and 1 tsp sugar). Stir fry until the pork is evenly coated.
- Add the 180 g Chinese broccoli stalks and stir fry for a minute until bright green, then add the leaves and stir fry until softened (another minute or two).
- Serve with Thai sticky rice, jasmine rice or coconut rice for an extra creamy finish.
Video
Recipe Notes
- Dry The Pork – Any excess moisture patted out of your pork will help it cook further in the air fryer.
- Use a Cleaver – The bigger and heavier the knife, the better and easier it is to chop the pork into bite-size pieces.
- Just Cook the Pork – Don’t want a stir fry? Just make crispy pork belly and a batch of our nam jim jaew sauce to dip it in!
- Add More Veg – You don’t HAVE to use Chinese broccoli, so feel free to use what you have, carrots, cabbage, cauliflower and regular broccoli also work well.
- Add Egg – In Thailand, it can be common to also have with a fried egg, or you could even scramble it up in the stir fry!
Nutrition
2 Comments
rose
03/02/2024 at 2:51 amhow is this made if I do no have an air fryer?
Wandercooks
05/02/2024 at 12:31 pmHey Rose, instructions for deep frying the pork are in the FAQs for you.