Khao Mu Daeng
(Red Pork with Rice – Thai)
Mu daeng is a complement to khao man kai. Indeed in Thailand vendors that sell one very often sell the other, but nothing else. Like khao man kai a good lunch time meal can be had for half a dollar or so. An interesting style for two people is to buy a portion of khao man kai and a portion of khao mu daeng, and to share the meals.
Traditionally the pork was marinated in a highly complex mixture of herbs and berries to turn it sweet and red. Today the marinade at most street vendors stalls is water to which a little artificial red food die and a dash of sugar is added. What follows is my sister-in-law's, and she got it from her father. Father-in-law used a very traditional, but this version is somewhat simplified.
In Thailand the food is cooked by placing it on a grating in an iron bowl hanging from a tripod over a charcoal brazier, the whole being covered with a large metal drum, such as a 55 gallon oil drum, to trap the smoke and enhance the flavour of the meat.
If you have a domestic food smoker, or can improvise one with a barbeque, then go ahead, otherwise, add a little "Liquid Smoke" and cook the dish as follows.
Again this will feed two hungry people or four with moderate appetites.
Ingredients
- 1 pound pork loin, pork steak, or pork chops
- 1/4 chopped tomato from which the seeds and skin have been discarded
- 4 tablespoons fish sauce
- 4 tablespoons honey
- 2 preserved Chinese plums, chopped
Instructions
- Mix tomato, fish sauce, honey and plums in a blender.
- Thoroughly paint the meat with the marinade, and let it stand for several hours. If you cannot cook in a suitably smoky atmosphere, add a little Liquid Smoke to the marinade. If you want it a little redder use cochineal food colorant.
- Place the meat, and the marinade, in a casserole, and add about a cup of water or pork stock. Bring it to a boil on the stove top, then reduce to low heat and cover, and continue to cook slowly until just about cooked.
- The meat is then removed from the liquor in which it has cooked, and drained, then placed under a grill or broiler on high heat and browned. Allow it to cool and then slice it into strips, and the strips into bite size pieces.
- Bring the cooking liquor back to the boil, and add two tablespoons of dark sweet soy, and 2 tablespoons of honey and two tablespoons of rice vinegar, and reduce to a thick sauce like consistency, adding a little cornstarch or rice flour if necessary to thicken it.
- Serve the pork on a bed of rice, garnished with coriander leaves, with a supply of cucumber slices, and place the gravy in a small bowl, so the diner may take as much as they choose.
Note that the meat and sauce may be served cold.
Posted by WingsFan91 at Recipe Goldmine 11/15/2001 5:11 pm.
Special thanks to Muoi Khuntilanont.
