- 1 lb Thai apple eggplants (see cooks' note, below)
- 2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup Thai red curry paste
- 1 1/2 lb pork tenderloin, halved lengthwise, then sliced crosswise 1/4 inch thick
- 1/3 cup julienne strips peeled fresh or frozen grachai (lesser galangal or wild ginger; thawed if frozen) or drained bottled grachai, rinsed, or ginger
- 3 oz Chinese long beans or green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 8 canned baby corn, rinsed, drained, and halved lengthwise
- 1 1/2 cups Thai chicken stock
- 3 tablespoons nam pla (Asian fish sauce; preferably Thai)
- 5 (4-inch-long) fresh or frozen Kaffir lime leaves (sometimes called bai makroot)
- 1 fresh chee fah chile or 2 red jalapeño chiles, thinly sliced crosswise and seeds discarded
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup loosely packed bai grapao (holy basil leaves)
- Special equipment: a large (6-qt) wok
- Accompaniment: Thai pickled garlic (gratiam dong)
- Trim eggplants and cut into 1-inch wedges (do this just before heating oil to avoid discoloration).
- Heat oil (see above) in wok over moderate heat until warm, about 30 seconds. Add curry paste (to taste) and cook, stirring constantly, until very fragrant and a shade darker, 2 to 3 minutes. Add pork and stir-fry over high heat until no longer pink on outside, 1 to 2 minutes. Add eggplant, grachai, beans, baby corn, and stock and simmer, stirring, until eggplant is crisp-tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Add fish sauce, lime leaves, chile, and salt and bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Stir in half of basil.
- Serve topped with remaining basil.