Dish of Pork Stew with Eggs
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Pork Stew with Eggs


Thailand   -   Mu Tom Khem
Serves:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 4 w/rice
**
1 hr
Yes		 A simple, easy to make stew, delicious in an Asian or Western context. It harks back to before the Portuguese brought hot chilis to Asia, getting its spiciness from black pepper.

2
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1
2
1
1
1
1
3
1/4
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4
1-1/2
2
#
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T
cl
T
t
T
T
T
c
---
T
T
c
Pork, lean (1)
-- Marinade
Cilantro Root (2)
Garlic
Peppercorns
Salt
Palm Sugar (3)
Brandy
Fish Sauce
Soy Sauce (4)
-----------
Eggs
Oil
Water
Prep   (30 min)
  1. Cut PORK into cubes about 1 inch on a side.
  2. Make Marinade: Chop CILANTRO ROOT fine, crush GARLIC and chop fine. Pound to a paste in a mortar along with Salt, Peppercorns and Palm Sugar. Mix in Liquid Items.
  3. Massage Marinade into Pork and marinate 1/2 hour or more on the counter, turning once or twice.
  4. Hard boil EGGS, shell, cool. For best method see our recipe Boiling Eggs.
Run   (25 min)
  1. Drain Pork, retaining the Marinade.
  2. In a spacious sauté pan or wok, heat Oil and stir in the Pork. Fry stirring until pork is lightly browned in spots.
  3. Stir in reserved Marinade, Water and Eggs. Simmer, turning the eggs occassionally, for about 40 minutes, a little less if loin meat is used.
  4. Serve, including one egg per person. Accompany with plenty of steamed Jasmine rice.
NOTES:

  1. Pork:

      Weight given is for lean meat without fat or bone. Shoulder or Leg will have the best flavor.

  2. Cilantro Root:

      This is still very difficult to find even in Southern California. If you don't have it use the lower stems of fresh Cilantro (no leaves) and use twice as much (stems are hollow and thus bulkier).

  3. Palm Sugar

      This is available in pretty much all Southeast and East Asian markets. I buy it in lumps of about 1 Tablespoon each. If you don't have it, use a lightly refines sugar such as Turbinado.

  4. Soy Sauce:

      "Authenticity" calls for dark soy sauce, but I'm not thrilled with the color, flavor or sugar content of dark soy, so I use the regular variety. Some cooks may use half of each.
  5. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch tt=to taste ar=as required
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