Gai lan, garlic, oyster sauce, fire — four ingredients that built half of Thai-Chinese cooking.
$14
Where it comes from
Pad khana is what happens when nobody overthinks a vegetable. Chinese broccoli arrived with the immigrant cooks who reshaped Bangkok's food a century ago, and Thais fell hard for its crisp stems and mineral bite. Flash-seared with garlic and oyster sauce, it is the standard-issue green from street stalls to banquet halls — and the plate Thai cooks order to check whether a kitchen respects vegetables.
Not sure how to judge a plate like this? Read our field guide to the best Thai food in Orange County — five signs of a real Thai kitchen, and what to order once you’re in one.
