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Thai

Kai palo

Non-vegetarian

ไข่พะโล้ · khai phalo

Hard-boiled eggs and pork belly braised in a sweet, dark five-spice and soy broth until the eggs are mahogany brown — Thai-Chinese home cooking at its most comforting.

Kai palo is a Thai stew from Thailand, ready in about 1 hour 30 minutes and made with egg, pork belly and five-spice powder. It serves 4 and is rated easy to cook.

Start cooking
Bowl of eggs and pork braised in dark five-spice palo broth
Photo: Takeaway / Wikimedia Commons · CC-BY-SA-3.0
Prep
15 min
Cook
1 h 15 min
Total
1 h 30 min
Serves
4
Level
Easy
Calories
586

Ingredients

4 servings

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Pound the garlic (opens in a new tab), coriander roots and white pepper (opens in a new tab) to a paste and fry it in the oil until fragrant.

  2. Step 2

    Add the palm sugar (opens in a new tab) and let it melt and caramelise lightly, then add the pork and five-spice and stir to coat.

    • 5 min
    • medium heat

  3. Step 3

    Add the star anise (opens in a new tab), cinnamon (opens in a new tab), soy sauce (opens in a new tab), fish sauce (opens in a new tab) and water, bring to a boil, then add the eggs (opens in a new tab) (and tofu (opens in a new tab)). Simmer gently, partly covered, until the pork is very tender and the eggs are deep brown.

    • 65 min
    • low heat

    Food safety: Cook pork until the centre reaches at least 63 °C (71 °C for minced pork).

    A curry simmering in a pot
    How it looks · Photo: Bachir Mamud on Pexels

About this dish

Origin
Thailand · Commonly attributedA Thai-Chinese (Teochew) dish.More food from Thailand
Dish
Lunch · Dinner · Stews & braises · Egg dishes · Main courses
Cooking method
Braised, Simmered
Taste
sweet & savoury, aromatic / warmly spiced, mild
Diet
Dairy-free · No nut ingredients · Low-carb
All labelsNon-vegetarian · Dairy-free · No nut ingredients · Alcohol-free · Beef-free · Low-carb
With the listed swaps: Pescatarian, Flexitarian-friendly, Pork-freeWorked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
One-pot · Make-ahead · Child-friendly
Cook more with
Egg · Pork belly · Five-spice powder · Garlic · Coriander leaves · White pepper
Techniques
Boiling · Simmering · Braising

Allergens

  • Contains: Eggsfrom egg
  • Contains: Fishfrom fish sauce
  • May contain: Crustaceansfrom fish sauce
  • Contains, can be adapted: Wheatfrom soy sauce
  • Contains, can be adapted: Glutenfrom soy sauce
  • Contains: Soyfrom soy sauce, tofu

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

586 kcal per serving

Estimated

1 serving ≈ 441 g · recipe makes 4

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 13%
  • Carbohydrate 10%
  • Fat 78%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
Energy586 kcal133 kcal
Protein18.3 g4.1 g
Carbohydrate14.3 g3.3 g
Net carbohydrate13.4 g3.1 g
Sugars10.3 g2.3 g
Added sugars9.7 g2.2 g
Fibre0.9 g0.2 g
Fat50.5 g11.5 g
Saturated fat17.1 g3.9 g
Trans fat——
Cholesterol333 mg76 mg
Sodium1189 mg270 mg
Salt equivalent3 g0.7 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
368 mg
Calcium
108 mg
Iron
2.4 mg
Magnesium
39 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
131 µg
Vitamin C
3 mg
Vitamin D
—
Vitamin B12
1.3 µg
Folate (DFE)
42 µg

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • *Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
  • Optional ingredients are not included: tofu.
  • Not counted (tiny amounts or “to taste”): five-spice powder.
  • Jaggery / palm sugar: Brown sugar (FDC 168833) used as a stand-in for unrefined cane jaggery and palm sugar.
  • Star anise / anise: Anise seed (FDC 171316) used as a stand-in for star anise.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • It tastes even better the next day once the eggs have soaked longer.

Common mistakes

  • Boiling hard, which makes the egg whites rubbery.

Serve with

  • Serve with jasmine rice and a sour chilli-vinegar dip.

Storage

  • Keeps 4 days in the fridge.

Reheating

  • Reheat gently on the stove.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

  • Egg, hard-boiled and peeled6 piece · 300 g
  • Pork belly, cut into 3 cm pieces300 g
  • Tofu, firm, fried in cubes (optional)200 g
Used in steps 2, 3

Masalas in this recipe

Make the masala first, then come back to finish the dish.

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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