Thailand – The Land of Thousand Smiles. Mention Bangkok and immediately thoughts of shopping, delicious Thai food, cheap massages come to my mind. Now, besides Korean food, my next favorite cuisine is Thai. If you go through Thai food recipes, you’ll notice the few usual ingredient suspects – Thai fish sauce, coriander root, coconut milk, tamarind sauce.
Now, among all the different types of meat protein, pork is my no. 1 favorite. Therefore you could imagine when I got my hands on Pok Pok (Thai food bible by Andy Rickers) and Thai Street Food cook book, I immediately flipped to their Moo (pork in Thai) section. I’ve been making this religiously once a week for the past few months haha!
This recipe is adapted from two different recipes I’ve omitted some ingredients which I think are a little challenging to find. The below ingredients should be readily available in Singapore and if you are overseas, any Asian grocer stores.
Ingredients:
350 g pork pork collar – cut into bite size
Marinade:
6 garlic cloves
8 stalks coriander roots with stems
1 red chilli (optional if you do not want any heat)
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp Thai fish sauce
½ cup coconut milk
1 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp corn starch
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Serves 2 – 3
Recipe source: Thai Street Food & Pok Pok Cook book (with modifications)
Place all the marinade ingredients (except the corn starch) into a food processor or blender and pulse until completely combined.
In a large zip loc bag, add the pork and pour the marinade. Close the bag and use your hands to squish the pork around to combine the marinade.
Refrigerate at least 4 hours, or overnight. If you are grilling the pork on bamboo skewers, soak the sticks in water for 15 mins. This will prevent the sticks from burning as you grill the meat.
Add in the cornstarch to the pork and mix well. Thread the pork tightly onto the skewers.
Heat up your grill or griddle pan over medium high heat and grill for 5-7 minutes per side or 10 minutes total. Use a brush and baste the marinade over the pork. They are delicious on their own or with a spicy, tangy dipping sauce! (see below for instructions)
Dipping sauce:
3 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp Thai fish sauce
1 tbsp sugar or corn syrup
1 red chilli – cut
1 sprig of coriander – chopped
Mix all the ingredients together and let it sit for 30 mins before serving.
Full instructions:
Place all the marinade ingredients (except the corn starch) into a food processor or blender and pulse until completely combined.
In a large zip loc bag, add the pork and pour the marinade. Close the bag and use your hands to squish the pork around to combine the marinade. Refrigerate at least 4 hours, or overnight.
If you are grilling the pork on bamboo skewers, soak the sticks in water for 15 mins (skip this step if you are not). This will prevent the sticks from burning as you grill the meat. Add the corn starch to the pork and mix well. Thread the pork tightly onto the skewers. Heat up your grill or griddle pan over medium high heat and grill for 5-7 minutes per side or 10 minutes total. Use a brush and baste the marinade over the pork. They are delicious on its own or with a spicy, tangy dipping sauce!