{"id":13404,"date":"2013-03-04T22:23:51","date_gmt":"2013-03-04T21:23:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/?p=13404"},"modified":"2016-05-29T16:38:48","modified_gmt":"2016-05-29T14:38:48","slug":"thai-pork-curry-with-ginger-gaeng-hang-leykaeng-hang-ley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/?p=13404","title":{"rendered":"Burmese-Style Pork Curry with Ginger (Gaeng Hang Ley\/Kaeng Hang Ley)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"porkginger_pp\"<\/p>\n

Doesn’t Thai cuisine bring spring to your mind? Makrut\u00a0lime leaves, lemongrass, galanga, tamarind… there is always something tangy, zesty or simply refreshing even in the heartiest meal and this Northern pork curry is no exception. I found it in a very humble-looking book entitled “Real Thai. The Best of Thailand’s Regional Cooking” by Nancie Mc Dermott<\/a>, bought for a bargain at a charity sale. The book looks modest, contains no photos, but it was worth buying even only for this one sensational recipe.<\/p>\n

As someone whose vision of Thai cuisine is limited to several coconut-milk based curries, two soups and spicy meat skewers, I was stunned and at the same time delighted by this discovery.\u00a0The most astonishing detail in Gaeng Hahng Ley (or\u00a0Kaeng hang lay)\u00a0<\/em>was probably the lack of coconut milk, apparently typical of Northern Thailand. The substantial amount of fresh ginger and the presence of turmeric were intriguing too, but the biggest surprise was of course the taste. The complex, explosive flavours balancing between sour, sweet and hot have instantly won my heart and palate. In spite of several modifications and mistakes I have made, I am wondering if it’s not the best Thai dish I have ever had in my life…<\/p>\n

This being said, I would be dishonest if I said this curry is a crowd pleaser. If you don’t like tangy and\/or hot food, you might find it impossible to enjoy (not to mention the fact that here the sharp flavours are not tamed down by coconut milk). On the other hand, those who like taste bud-stimulating, explosive combination of tangy, hot and sweet flavours, have a big chance to fall in love, just like I did.<\/p>\n

As for the modifications, I have scaled down the amounts to a portion for two and cooked the sauce until it was very thick and clang to the meat. Accidentally, I have put too much soy sauce, which darkened the dish, but I don’t regret it and think it hasn’t destroyed the balance. The only thing I will change next time is the meat cut.\u00a0Traditionally, this curry is made with fatty pork cuts, but since I had only pork loin, I tested it instead. The meat ended up too dry (it didn’t however spoil my meal!), so next time I will try it with tenderloin, shoulder or other fatter cuts.<\/p>\n

TIPS:\u00a0If you cannot get tamarind juice, I have seen once someone advising prune juice instead. It seems an excellent idea, but I would use at least twice as much.
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Unfortunately, I don’t see any substitution for fermented shrimp paste. I used it here for the first time in my life and was amazed at how it changed the taste and aroma. It’s available in many Asian shops, so you should find it quite easily.
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As I have mentioned above, pork loin can become too dry, so use shoulder or other fatty cuts instead. I think you might try also tenderloin if you want a leaner cut. I am sure that the same dish can be successfully\u00a0made with chicken.<\/p>\n

Preparation: about 1 hour<\/em><\/p>\n

Ingredients (serves two):<\/em><\/p>\n

300 g\/about 10,5 oz pork with fat attached or a slightly fatty cut, such as shoulder (I think using tenderloin might work too)<\/em><\/p>\n

30 g\/about 1 oz pork belly (can be skipped and you can use a bit more of the above cut)<\/em><\/p>\n

Paste:<\/em><\/p>\n

6 dried small chilies, cut in two pieces<\/em><\/p>\n

1 teaspoon galanga, finely shredded<\/em><\/p>\n

1 stalk lemongrass, thinly sliced<\/em><\/p>\n

1\/2 tablespoon fermented shrimp paste<\/em><\/p>\n

2 generously heaped tablespoons brown sugar (I have used demerara)<\/em><\/p>\n

1 teaspoon dark soy sauce<\/em><\/p>\n

1 teaspoon turmeric<\/em><\/p>\n

3 tablespoons fresh ginger, cut into fine slivers<\/em><\/p>\n

2 heaped tablespoons shallots, thinly sliced lengthwise<\/em><\/p>\n

1 tablespoon chopped garlic<\/em><\/p>\n

1 x 1 cm bit of tamarind paste<\/em><\/p>\n

600 ml water<\/em><\/p>\n

(1 tablespoon oil)<\/em><\/p>\n

Put the tamarind paste in a small bowl.<\/p>\n

Add four tablespoons boiling water and stir well.<\/p>\n

Put the ginger in a bowl and cover with cold water.<\/p>\n

Cut the meat into two-bite sized chunks and, if you use only lean cuts, add 1 tablespoon oil.<\/p>\n

Mix the ingredients of the paste in a mortar or in a small food processor (baby food processor is perfect here).<\/p>\n

Combine it with the meat.<\/p>\n

Put the pork cuts in a heavy cooking pan and, stirring constantly, fry them for about five minutes.<\/p>\n

After 5 minutes add the 600 ml water, the turmeric and the soy sauce.<\/p>\n

Simmer the meat on low heat for about 40 minutes or more, depending on the sauce consistency you want to obtain (I prefer it very thick).<\/p>\n

Add the garlic, the shallots, two tablespoons tamarind juice and the water \u00a0after strained from the ginger.<\/p>\n

Place the ginger in a mortar and squash it delicately to soften it, but do not pound it.<\/p>\n

Add the ginger and cook for a couple of minutes until all is well heated.<\/p>\n

Adjust the taste (it shouldn’t be too tangy or too sweet, so add more sugar or more tamarind if required; you can also add some fish sauce if it’s not salty enough).<\/p>\n

The author advises putting the pot aside and serving warm after 20 minutes, but I served it straight away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Doesn’t Thai cuisine bring spring to your mind? Makrut\u00a0lime leaves, lemongrass, galanga, tamarind… there is always something tangy, zesty or simply refreshing even in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13422,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[184,25],"tags":[12],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13404"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13404"}],"version-history":[{"count":39,"href":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13404\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18665,"href":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13404\/revisions\/18665"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}