One of the most popular comfort foods in Thailand is “Kha Moo,” a sweet and savory pork leg stew influenced by the Chinese. Since a whole pork leg can be daunting to prepare, many people prefer to make a similar dish using pork belly a.k.a. “Moo Hong.”
Thai Pork Belly Stew Recipe
“Moo Hong”
Ingredients
454 g Pork belly
2 tablespoon Palm oil
8 cloves Garlic (24 cloves if using small Thai garlic)
1/2 knob Fresh ginger
6 Thai bird chiles,
3 Fresh coriander roots
1 tablespoon Black peppercorns
1 tablespoon Light soy sauce
1 tablespoon Dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon Oyster sauce
1 tablespoon Fermented bean paste
2 Star anise
1 Cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon Chinese five spice
1 tablespoon Peanut oil
1 bunch Fresh coriander
as needed Water
100 g Brown beech mushrooms (not traditional but I like it this way)
Method
Parboil
Bring a pot of water to a boil and immerse the pork belly. After 10 minutes, discard the water and rinse. Slice belly into 1 by 1 inch cubes.
Pound
In a mortar and pestle, pound the garlic, ginger, coriander roots, Thai chiles, and black pepper until you have a paste.
Brown
Heat the palm oil until just below the smoking point and brown the pieces of pork belly. Work in batches if necessary, do not crowd the pan. Next, in the same oil , fry the ginger/garlic paste mixture until fragrant. Pour off any excess oil, and deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup water, making sure to scrape the fond from the bottom of the pan.
Braise
Combine all ingredients except for the mushrooms, add enough water to just cover the pork, bring to a gentle simmer, cover, and cook for 2 hours., Add the mushrooms during the last 30 minutes of cooking.
Garnish with fresh coriander and serve with Thai jasmine rice & Chinese kale {Kha Na).
Chef Chris Colburn 