Moo Hong (Stewed Pork)

I've been looking forward to making this sticky, sweet braised pork dish for a while now and it did not disappoint. Moo Hong belongs to a family of similar Chinese influenced, dark coloured stews that also includes khao kha moo (stewed pork leg) and moo paloe (pork braised with eggs). They all share some common ingredients: soy sauce, star anise, long cooking time and fatty cuts of pork but it's down to the consistency and what they're served with that makes for some subtle differences.

Moo Hong uses large chunks of belly pork and is cooked down until you're left with a rich, peppery, sweet and sticky sauce and meat that is soft and unctuous. Although it needs just over an hour to cook it's very easy to make.

For two large portions use:

• 400g of pork belly, rind removed and cut into inch square pieces. Try to find a piece that is fairly even in thickness and has a good meat/fat ratio
• half a bulb garlic, peeled
• a dessert spoon of black peppercorns
• a small handful of coriander roots or stalks (roots seem impossible to find in the UK)
• a golf ball size chunk of palm (or light brown) sugar
• 3 star anise
• a big splash of oyster sauce
• a big splash of light soy sauce
• a big splash of dark sweet soy sauce (I use Indonesian kecap manis)
• 2-3 cups of water (you may need a bit more)
• small splash of oil for frying

Make a well blended paste by bashing the black pepper, palm sugar, garlic and coriander in a mortar; by adding the harder ingredients first and adding the softer ones last you should end up with a fairly smooth paste.

Heat a splash of vegetable oil in a deep pan until medium hot. Carefully add in the cubed pork belly and fry for 3-4 minutes until some of the fat has rendered out and the pork is lightly browned. Pour off the excess fat from the pan (there'll be plenty in the dish as the pork cooks down).

Pop in the spice paste and stir well for a moment or two; the sugar in the paste will make the pork sticky but be careful not to let it sit and burn. 

Pour hot water over to just cover the pork then add in the rest of the ingredients (sauces and star anise). The sauce will be dark but very thin. Pop on a lid and lower the heat to a gentle simmer, let the pork reduce and cook down for around 75-90 minutes. Check it and stir gently every now and again, making sure there's still enough liquid; top up with a little water if need be.

The final sauce should be thick and sticky (of a honey- like consistency). Serve with freshly cooked rice and some extra coriander.

Gai Khua Kem (Salty Roast Chicken)

I've been making this for years now and had affectionately named it 'stinky chicken' due to the huge amount of garlic and chillies I use in it but only recently did I discover it is actually made in Thailand and even has a name; Gai Khua Kem (Salted Roast Chicken).

I eat this as a guilty pleasure usually over pork ribs or just with chicken wings but this version can best be described as a form of a 'hash', I guess. Anyway, it's a great way to use up a roast chicken.

For 4 small or 2 large portions, use:

• A roast chicken (or part of)- I had used the breasts for another recipe so mine was mostly comprised of leg, crispy skin, wings and some spare bits from underneath! I chopped the roasted chicken into varying size bits, keeping some on the bone. This allows for a range of textures in the final dish.

• A whole bulb of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 3-5 hot Thai chillies, or more if you wish
• 4 spring onions, finely sliced
• A small splash of oyster sauce
• A small splash of light soy sauce
• A big pinch of salt
• A teaspoonful of ground black pepper
• A large splash of vegetable oil for frying

Heat the oil in the wok to a low/medium temperature. Add in all the chopped garlic and gently fry, stirring from time to time for 3-5 minutes over a fairly low temp until the garlic is a light brown and crispy. Scoop out and drain on kitchen paper, leave the garlic oil in the wok.

Turn up the heat on the garlicky oil and pop in the chopped chicken, Toss the chicken every now and then to allow crispy bits to develop. Fry for around 5 minutes so the chicken has time to get some colour and crisp.

Throw in the salt and pepper and mix well. Pour in the oyster and soy sauces and stir. Cook until the liquid has evaporated and the sauces have coated the meat well (about 2 minutes).

Next fling in the chillies, stir, then the crispy garlic, stir again and lastly, the spring onion.

Serve with some fluffy white rice.

Pad Pla Cha (Sizzling Fried Fish)

The last week has certainly been a chaotic one- in our corner of the world we've had horrendous amounts of rain which led to wide scale flooding in our city centre, followed by our substation getting flooded, blowing up and widespread blackouts. It really was strange to have 3 days without electric, internet or even phone signal; most people also use digital phones so even a basic phone call using a landline was out. Consequently, cooking in the dark at friends and family's houses (we don't have gas here, only electric so we had to borrow) using up whatever food we had that hadn't yet gone off did not make for a productive week to run a food blog- all the shops were shut due to flood damage and having no power and even the museum where I work (unfortunately next to the river) had suffered from the flood waters so the beginning of week there was much cleaning up to be done.

This recipe for pad pla cha was made last week before all of this even began and has been waiting to get uploaded for a bit. The 'cha' part of the name describes the sizzling noise made by stir frying at high temperature, there are many variations on pad cha recipes, this is just one! I find deep frying the fish holds it together and helps absorb the flavours of the sauce. It has a couple of specific ingredients- the green peppercorns and the krachai root which give it a unique flavour.

For two people use:

• 2 small fillets of fish (I've use basa- a type of catfish)
• a big handful of flour
• 1 long Asian aubergine/ 3 Thai, sliced
• a handful of green pea aubergine
• a tablespoon of green peppercorns
• a heaped teaspoon of red curry paste (I use Mae Ploy brand)
• 2 small red chillies
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 large red chillies, sliced
• 2 fingers of krachai (fingerroot), peeled and finely chopped
• a large handful of sweet Thai basil (bai horapha)
• a large splash of oyster sauce
• a large splash of light soy sauce
• a small splash of fish sauce
• vegetable oil for deep frying and a splash for the stir fry

Make a rough paste in a pestle and mortar with the small chillies and garlic, set aside. Cut the fish into thin slices and coat them in the flour, dusting off the excess. Heat a pan of oil to a depth of at least 3 inches and when hot, deep fry the fish until crisp and light golden in colour, scooping out and draining onto a paper towel. Set aside briefly.

In a wok, heat a splash of oil over a high heat and briefly fry off the chill/garlic paste and the red curry paste for around 30 seconds until fragrant. Next pop in the sliced aubergine and fry for a few minutes until slightly softened. Next in go the pea aubergines, green peppercorns, krachai and sliced red chilli and fry for just a minute. Now pop in the breaded fish and be much more gentle now, stir through and add in the remaining sauces (soy, fish and oyster), coat everything well. Finally, turn off the heat and throw in the basil leaves, briefly stirring through. 

Serve with freshly cooked rice. 

Pla Pad Prik Thai Dam (Fish Fried with Black Pepper)

Deep fried fish, lots of garlicky spices and crunchy vegetables- you can’t really go wrong here. I suspect this is one of these dishes that may have started out as tourist food but has ended up being just as popular with the Thai people.
It’s a quick easy to make dish that doesn’t use any obscure or hard to track down ingredients. It’s a nice contrast to have two kinds of heat from the smoky black pepper and the fiery chillies. It didn’t last long on our plates anyway!! Serve with fluffy white rice.
For two portions use:

• a large, skinned sea fish fillet (I used haddock- pollock, coley, catfish or ling are also good) cut into large chunks
• 1 & ½ bell peppers (whatever colour you fancy)
• 1 onion, sliced into strips
• 2 spring onions, cut into large pieces
• 4/5 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
• 2-3 small red chillies, chopped fine
• a dessertspoon of black pepper, ground
• a cup of plain flour
• a big splash of oyster sauce
• a big splash of light soy sauce
• vegetable oil for deep frying/ stir frying

Start off by coating the chunks of fish in the flour. Heat a deep pan or wok and when hot, gently drop in the fish and deep fry until lightly golden and crisp- roughly ¾ minutes. Cook in batches if needed so the pan isn’t overcrowded and drain on kitchen paper.
In a clean wok, heat a splash of oil until really hot and throw in the sliced onions and peppers, stir frying for 3 minutes and allowing the bottoms to get a little char. Throw in the spring onions, garlic, chillies and ground pepper (it’ll make you cough!) stir frying for another 30 seconds before adding in the fried fish and both sauces. Briefly stir fry (gently so the fish doesn’t break up) so everything is coated in sauce and serve with rice.

Bu Pad Gratiem Prik Thai (Crab Fried with Garlic and Peppercorns)

A week or two ago now, we had a visit to Manchester which gave me chance to visit China town which has some fantastic food stores and restaurants. I’ve been cooking up a whole bunch of new recipes with the ingredients I picked up from Siam Supermarket this is the first of four to come. The supermarket also features a cafe called Siam Smiles which we ate at and it really did make me smile! It was a typically casually affair, like all good Thai cafes and I was thrilled to see a flavour caddy on the table (way better than regular salt and pepper) and a little pot of nam prik pao (chilli paste). I ordered the Laab Mu (chopped pork salad) which was meaty (pork and I think, liver), lots of herbs, sour and salty and a perfect amount of chilli. My husband chose the Khao Pad Moo Grob (deep fried pork fried rice) which I have re-created for a recipe later this week. The verdict- wonderful flavours, definitely not Westernised, great value for money- absolutely perfect and definitely one to return to the next time we’re back in Manchester.
Now back to the recipe; this is a dish that’s quick to prepare and cook, looks great for a special occasion or party but does require you to get hands on and messy when eating.
For two people use:

• 500g or thereabouts of fresh crab claws
• 6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• a few stems of fresh green peppercorn, pulled off stems
• 1 large red chilli, sliced
• a big splash of oyster sauce
• a big splash of fish sauce (nam pla)
• a big splash of light soy sauce
• vegetable oil for frying

Prepare the crab claws first by individually wrapping each in a tea towel and lightly crack them with a pestle or heavy rolling pin (discard any small shell fragments).
Heat a splash of vegetable oil in a large wok and when hot, throw in the garlic and chilli, stir frying for 20 seconds or so before adding the crab claws and peppercorns. Stir fry for 3 minutes before adding in the sauces. Fry for a further minute to make sure everything gets well coated and serve.
Don’t even attempt to use cutlery with this- it’s fingers all the way!

Gai Tod Gratiem (Garlic Fried Chicken)

Sometimes you just need deep fried food and Thai food has plenty of it to spare. These wings are WAY better than fast food fried chicken and they don’t need many ingredients or take too long to do. All the crispy garlic bits were particularly good. This is the kind of street food dish you can find up and down Thailand. Serve it alongside a healthy salad like Som Tam or a vegetable stir fry like Pad Pak Grachet. I served these wings with the same sweet chilli dipping sauce that I made to go with last week’s Po Pia Tod (click and scroll down for sauce recipe).


For two people use:

• a pack of chicken wings (about 10)


• half a bulb of garlic (or more if you like), peeled


• a dessert spoon of black peppercorns


• a big splash of Thai fish sauce (nam pla)


• a small splash of light soy sauce


• vegetable oil for deep frying

Prepare the chicken wings by using a heavy knife to trim off and discard the tip. Then find the joint between the upper and lower part of the wing and cut them into two. Place in a large bowl. In a pestle and mortar, bash up the peppercorns- it can be slightly coarser than a powder but don’t leave big bits- pour over the chicken. Lightly bash up the garlic, just to break it into pieces, not paste and add into the bowl. Pour the sauces over the chicken and give everything a good mix,leave to marinate for up to an hour.



Heat the oil in a heavy pan or wok. The oil needs to to be hot but not smoking otherwise the chicken and garlic may burn but the chicken inside could still be raw. Gently lower the chicken pieces in, including the garlicky bits (but discard any left over sauce). I had to do mine in two batches so the pan wasn’t crowded. Fry for around ten minutes, turning over half way. The chicken should be a dark golden brown and crispy. Drain onto kitchen paper,making sure you scoop out and sprinkle the crispy garlic bits over the top when serving. Serve with sweet chilli sauce.

Moo Pad Gratiem Prik Thai (Pork Fried with Garlic and Pepper)

Right, I promise no more pork for a while after this, but this one is a little different this time- This dish is a common one you’ll find in Thai restaurants over here and in Thailand but using chopped pork ribs is much more common in Thailand and, to be honest, much more satisfying as you have to get a bit messy and get hands on with your food.

You’ll need for two:

• about 6 meaty pork ribs, use a cleaver to cut them into inch long pieces (please use a good solid wooden chopping board- I did this on my plastic meat board and chopped it into two!)


• a whole bulb of garlic, finely chopped


• a very large pinch of ground pepper


• a small pinch of sugar


• a big splash of light soy sauce


• a big splash of oyster sauce


• lots of vegetable oil for frying

Heat a deep pan or wok with the vegetable oil. When it’s medium hot, add in the rib pieces. You want them to cook fairly slowly, that way they’ll get really crispy. If the oils too hot, they will cook too fast on the outside and not all the way through. They will probably need 10-15 minutes deep frying. When they’re brown and crispy, drain onto paper towels.

Empty out the wok and add a small splash of cooking oil. Heat the wok onto high, throw in all the garlic for just a few seconds before tossing the ribs back in with the two sauces and the sugar and pepper, stir fry for just another minute or so and turn out onto your serving plate. Sprinkle a bit more pepper over the ribs and serve with a salad- it’ll balance out the deep fried pork and you’ll think you’re being at least vaguely healthy!