Home > Thai food recipes > Side Dishes (เครื่องเคียง) > Pork Belly Coated with Salted-Fish and Green Mango Chili Relish (น้ำพริกมะม่วง หมูเคลือบเค็ม พ.ศ. 2476; naam phrik ma muaang mu khleuuap khem)
Pork Belly Coated with Salted-Fish and Green Mango Chili Relish (น้ำพริกมะม่วง หมูเคลือบเค็ม พ.ศ. 2476; naam phrik ma muaang mu khleuuap khem)
In this dish, slices of pork belly are coated with a sticky sauce; the sauce is reduced from braising a slice of grilled salted fish with coriander roots, garlic and white peppercorns (saam gluuhr). The dish is served with a sour-leading green mango chili relish that adds tartness with fiery accents to the saltiness of the pork. The salted fish gives the pork an initial fishy aroma that, although robust, gives way to a sense of home as it merges into the sourness and fruitiness of the mango chili relish. As an ingredient commonly used in the kitchens of rice-growing communities, salted fish signifies a comforting familiarity that conveys simplicity and warmth to the table. I like to pair the salted, fishy pork with seasoned rice dishes in which sour-leading relishes are mixed with rice along with other condiments.
Pork Belly Coated with Salted-Fish and Green Mango Chili Relish (น้ำพริกมะม่วง หมูเคลือบเค็ม สำรับรอบปี, จีบ บุนนาค เจ้าของนามปากกา “หลานแม่ครัวหัวป่าก์” พ.ศ. 2476; naam phrik ma muaang mu khleuuap khem)
In this dish, slices of pork belly are coated with a sticky sauce; the sauce is reduced from braising a slice of grilled salted fish with coriander roots, garlic and white peppercorns (saam gluuhr). The dish is served with a sour-leading green mango chili relish that adds tartness with fiery accents to the saltiness of the pork.
2teaspoondried shrimp pounded to powder (กุ้งแห้งป่น)
1tablespoonThai garlic (กระเทียมไทย)
1/3cupgreen mango (มะม่วงเปรี้ยว)sliced into small pieces
fresh red and green Thai bird’s eye chilies (phrik kee noo) (พริกขี้หนูแดง และ เขียว)
Season with:
1/4partfish sauce (น้ำปลา)
1 1/2partlime juice (น้ำมะนาว)
Mix in:
green mango (มะม่วงเปรี้ยว)shredded into thin elongated pieces
Instructions
Prepare the pork belly
Steam the pork belly over high heat, over a bed of bruised lemongrass to deodorize.
Once the pork belly is fully cooked, let it rest and then slice it into thin elongated pieces. Set aside.
Prepare the salted fish for the sauce
Choose either salted Indian salmon (ปลากุเลา) or salted Spanish mackerel (ปลาอินทรีเค็ม). Rinse the salted fish thoroughly.
Wrap the washed fish in four layers of banana leaves and grill over a bed of sliced fingerroot. Once the outer layer of banana leave is completely charred, remove the fish and set it aside.
Prepare the sauce
To a pot, add water and bring to a boil.
Add the saam gluuhr paste (coriander roots, garlic, white peppercorns).
Add the grilled fish.
Simmer over low heat, allowing the liquids to reduce to a thick sauce. Set aside.
Strain, and set aside.
Coat the pork with the sauce
In a mixing bowl, gradually add the salted fish sauce to the pork to your preferred saltiness and fishy pungency.
For the relish
Peel the green mango and dice it into small cubes. Set aside.
Measure the amount of fermented shrimp paste (kapi), garlic and palm sugar, following the ratios of a standard chili relish recipe (น้ำพริกกะปิมาตรฐาน). Arrange the ingredients next to each other so you can visualize their proportions.
Begin preparing the relish in a mortar and pestle the same way you would a basic chili relish – start by pounding the garlic with the kapi and add dried shrimp powder.
Add the green mango. Using the pestle, mash it into a rough paste.
Taste and season with salt and fish sauce. Once you are satisfied with the saltiness of the relish, add palm sugar at the ratio indicated. Season to a sweet-salty flavor profile.
Season to a sour-leading flavor profile using lime juice, making it slightly more sour to better complement with the salted pork.
Add the fresh chilies. Using the pestle, bruise the chilies to release the desired spiciness.
Mix the chili relish with the pork belly and shredded mango.
Serve
Keyword chili relish, naam phrik, nam prik (น้ำพริก)
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Gaaeng naawk maaw is a light and refreshing soup served at room temperature. The ingredients are meticulously sliced as if for a salad, placed in a serving bowl, and covered with a salty and naturally sweet shrimp broth. At the table, diners can adjust the soup to their preferred flavor profile using granulated sugar, lime juice, or pickled garlic brine; hence the name – gaaeng naawk maaw – which literally means “a curry dish outside the pot” or “to cook curry outside the pot”. (Note: The word gaaeng (แกง) in Thai is both a verb and a noun).
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Practical and kitchen-tested recipes with a mix of theory, history, psychology, and Siamese culture tidbits.
Access to Thaifoodmaster’s constantly growing library of prime professional classes, articles, recipes and videos on Siamese culinary topics, available nowhere else in English.
Gain access to NEW MONTHLY masterclasses as they become available.
1-1 support from Hanuman to help you achieve your professional Thai culinary goals
The opportunity to join a monthly live two-hour videoconference where I can answer your questions.
one year access for the price of 3 days in-person training.
You will get everything you need to:
When you design or build a new menu for an event or restaurant or even prepare for dinner with friends.
Finally !
Master your Thai cooking skills and expand your repertoire.