Dish of Spicy Ground Pork
(click to enlarge)

Spicy Ground Pork


Thailand   -   Phat Khi Mao Mu
Serves:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 3 main
**
30 min
Prep		 A popular meaty dish with a bit of chili bite. It is also made with Chicken (Phat Khi Mao Kai). I serve with Chili Vinegar Sauce on the side so it can be spiced up a bit more.

1
5
1
5
1/2
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2
1
1
1/4
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2
#
cl
oz

c
---
T
T
t
c
---
T
Pork, lean
Garlic
Cilantro Roots (1)
Thai Chili (2)
Thai Basil Leaf (3)  
--Sauce
Fish Sauce (4)
Oyster Sauce (5)
Palm Sugar
Stock
---------
Oil
Prep   -   (15 min)
  1. Grind PORK or chop very fine (more authentic and better texture, but much more tedious).
  2. Crush GARLIC and chop fine. Chop CILANTRO ROOTS (or stems - see Note-1. Chop CHILIS fine. Mix all and pound to paste in a mortar.
  3. Remove BASIL LEAVES from stems (measure is loosely packed). Set to soaking in cold water (keeps them green longer).
  4. Mix all Sauce items.
Run   -   (15 min)
  1. In a spacious sauté pan or wok heat Oil moderately hot and fry Garlic mix until Garlic starts to color. Turn heat to very high and stir in Pork. Fry stirring until all traces of the raw color are gone.
  2. Stir in Sauce mix, and toss until it comes to a boil.
  3. When ready to serve, take off the heat. Drain Basil Leaves and stir them in.
  4. Serve immediately with plenty of steamed Jasmine rice.
NOTES:

  1. Cilantro Roots:

      These are hard to get even here in Los Angeles. Even the farmer's markets rarely have them, so we often have to use cilantro stems (no leaves) instead.

  2. Thai Chilis:

      These are pretty hot, but small. If you don't have them substitute 2 or 3 (your best judgement) Serranos, which are not quite as hot but a lot larger. For details see our Thai Chilis page.

  3. Basil

      This should be Thai purple Basil (it's just the stems that are purple), not the light green Lemon Basil which is for salads. If you don't have Thai, regular purple or Italian Basils are reasonable substitutes. For details on types of basil see our Basil Page.

  4. Fish Sauce:

      This clear liquid is as essential to Southeast Asian cuisine as it was to Imperial Rome. If you are unfamiliar with it, see our Fish Sauce - Introduction page.

  5. Oyster Sauce:

      A standard Chinese sauce also used in Southeast Asia for dishes in the Chinese style. My current favorite is Megachef, but Lee Kum Kee Premium brand is also very good - the bottle looks very Chinese, but it's made in Los Angeles. Yes, these are more expensive than some, but there's reasons for that (much higher oyster content, unleaded and no melamine). For details see our Oyster Sauce page.
  6. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste
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