Raff is never happier than when he’s in a restaurant kitchen, learning tips and tricks about his favourite dishes from his favourite chefs, and pilfering the spoils to stuff down his neck. And Mhu Grob Padt Prik Khing (stir fried crisp pork belly in spicy red curry paste) and Chat Thai Gateway’s Chef Oat are both high on that favourite list.
So, when Chef Oat offered to teach him how to whip up the spicy dish at home, he practically cartwheeled in to the Chat Thai Gateway’s kitchen, ready to get his wok on.
Thanks to our lovely mutual friends at the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the generous Chef Oat not only took Raff step by step through the process of making the popular Thai favourite at home, but shared his secrets to the best ever pork belly (boil it, dry it, salt it, roast it, fry it), and how to pimp up a can of store bought curry paste for maximum flavour, and to save time on cooking at home.
Padt Prik Khing is a Thai curry cooked and served drier than regular coconut milk based Thai curries. It is strong on spice with a hefty kick of chilli and Thai ginger (galangal) from the paste, so is best served with steamed Jasmine rice.
Here, with his blessing, we’re sharing Chef Oat’s incredible at home recipe for Mhu Grob Padt Prik Khing.
Ingredients
- 500gm pork belly
- 1 cup green beans (cut into 3cm batons)
- 2 tbsp pork crackling
- 1 tbsp dried shrimp
- 2 tbsp red curry paste
- ½ tbsp palm sugar
- 1-2 tbsp water
- 1 stem of Lemon grass, finely diced
- 1 tbsp of finely diced galangal
- 1 tbsp whole white peppercorns
- 1 tbsp roasted coriander seeds
- Kaffir lime skin (optional, if available)
- 1 tbsp salt
- Kaffir lime leaves
- 1 red chilli sliced
Instructions
- Boil the pork belly for 15 minutes until the skin is translucent.
- Place on rack for 30 minutes and allow to dry.
- Brush the pork skin lightly with vinegar and rub with salt. Let it rest for another 15 mins.
- Heat oven to 200 degree Celsius.
- Place in a roasting pan in the oven for an hour or until crisp and brown
- Remove from oven and pan fry the skin side. Set aside to cool, then slice.
- In a mortar and pestle, pound dried shrimp.
- Add pork crackling and pound until coarsely fine but not powdery, then set mix aside.
- In the mortar and pestle pound lemongrass, galangal, whole pepper corns, roasted coriander seeds and kaffir lime skin into a paste.
- Add the palm sugar and curry paste, and pound until blended.
- Heat oil in wok and stir fry paste and fish sauce to remove moisture
- Add the dried shrimp and pork crackling, then set aside
- In the wok add a touch of oil and cook beans and pork for a minute to heat through.
- Reintroduce curry paste and fresh chilli
- Serve topped with finely sliced kaffir lime leaves and a side of steamed rice.
