← Nouns Cooking · Thai

Ingredients

• 300 g pork belly or shoulder, cut into 1 cm cubes
• 60 g Palm sugar, chopped
• 2 tbsp Fish sauce
• 2 Shallot, sliced
• 200 ml Water
• 2 tbsp Shrimp paste (belacan)
• 3 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 4 cloves Garlic, minced
• 700 g cold cooked jasmine rice
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 3 Eggs, beaten with a pinch of salt
• 30 g Dried shrimp, rinsed and patted dry
• 1 Green (unripe) mango, peeled and finely shredded
• 4 Thai or small shallots, thinly sliced
• 100 g long beans or green beans, finely sliced
• 4 Bird's eye chilli, thinly sliced
• 4 lime wedges
• 1 Cucumber, sliced

Method

1. Make the sweet pork: put the pork, palm sugar, fish sauce, shallots and water in a small pan and simmer uncovered over medium heat for 25–30 min, stirring more as it reduces, until the pork is tender and coated in a dark, sticky glaze.
2. Make the egg ribbons: lightly oil a frying pan over medium heat, pour in a thin layer of egg, swirl and cook for 1 minute until set. Roll up and slice thinly. Repeat with the rest of the egg.
3. Fry the dried shrimp in a little oil over medium heat for 1–2 minutes until crisp and fragrant. Set aside.
4. Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat, add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds, then add the shrimp paste and mash it into the oil until fragrant. Add the rice and sugar and toss for 3–4 minutes until every grain is evenly tinted and hot.
5. Mound the rice on plates and arrange the sweet pork, egg ribbons, crispy shrimp, mango, shallots, beans and chillies around it, with lime and cucumber. Mix it all together at the table.

Tips

• Shrimp pastes vary in saltiness: start with 1½ tbsp and add more to taste.
• No green mango? Use a sour green apple. Use rice cooked the day before, cooled quickly and kept in the fridge for no more than a day.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Saveur Lion Brand Hot Thai Kitchen