Jungle Curry with Pork and Thai Eggplant

Ingredients

• 1 lb thai apple eggplants (see cooks' note, below)
• 8  baby corns canned rinsed halved lengthwise drained
• 0.3 cup bottled grachai wild fresh frozen thawed rinsed peeled drained (lesser galangal or ginger; if )
• 1.5 cups thai chicken stock 
• 1  chee fah chile fresh red thinly sliced
• 8 servings accompaniment: thai pickled garlic (gratiam dong)
• 3 oz green beans chinese cut into 1-inch pieces
• 20 inch kaffir lime leaves fresh (sometimes called bai makroot)
• 3 tablespoons nam pla (Asian fish sauce; preferably Thai)
• 1.5 lb pork tenderloin halved lengthwise sliced
• 0.3 teaspoon salt 
• 0.3 cup thai curry paste red
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 
• 1 cup bai grapao loosely packed (holy basil leaves)

Equipment

• oven
• baking pan
• wok

Directions

1. Trim eggplants and cut into 1-inch wedges (do this just before heating oil to avoid discoloration).
2. Heat oil (see above) in wok over moderate heat until warm, about 30 seconds.
3. Add curry paste (to taste) and cook, stirring constantly, until very fragrant and a shade darker, 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Add pork and stir-fry over high heat until no longer pink on outside, 1 to 2 minutes.
5. Add eggplant, grachai, beans, baby corn, and stock and simmer, stirring, until eggplant is crisp-tender, 3 to 5 minutes.
6. Add fish sauce, lime leaves, chile, and salt and bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Stir in half of basil.
7. Serve topped with remaining basil.
8. Long slender Asian eggplant can be substituted for Thai apple eggplant. Thai apple eggplant is traditionally eaten raw or crisp-tender, but Asian eggplant needs to be precooked.
9. Cut Asian eggplant into 1-inch cubes and toss with 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, then bake in 1 layer in a shallow baking pan in a preheated 400°F oven until crisp-tender, about 12 minutes. Proceed with recipe.