Thai ground pork
When I first met my husband, I was exposed to true, authentic Thai food. I’d had Thai food plenty of times before from restaurants, but what my family had considered “really good Thai food” was essentially just an Americanized disgrace to the Thai culture. My Thai father-in-law happens to be a phenomenal cook, and his culinary creations put all Thai food restaurants to shame. I’m a lucky woman to have married into such a deliciously ethnic family. Some of my favorite dishes my father-in-law makes are his chicken larb, tofu noodle soup, ginger chicken, sour soup, coconut sticky rice with mango, and this crazy spicy pepper sauce that’s so good you could eat it on just about anything. Many of his recipes he just makes up. I love this rough-and-ready approach to Thai cooking: he just whips up a fantastic meal with whatever ingredients he has on hand and it’s always unbelievably tasty. We can’t even eat at Thai restaurants anymore, we’re so spoiled.
I’ve tried to recreate some of these Thai dishes myself, but they all pale in comparison to what my father-in-law serves. I have, however, mastered one of my husband’s favorite simple meals: Thai ground pork. Again, it’s probably a unique family recipe my husband grew up eating and not something you will ever see on a Thai restaurant menu, but my whole family loves it. Three ingredients and a little bit of patience is all it takes to make this spectacular dish. The secret to this Thai ground pork is to mince the garlic very fine and to render the pork down into crispy bits. I usually make two pounds of ground pork in one batch, but with my growing family this barely leaves any leftovers. You can always adjust the quantity of the recipe to make more or less. I serve the pork with steamed jasmine rice and whatever veggie we have in the fridge, like green beans or broccoli. It’s simple, delicious and my kids love it just as much as my husband! Sometimes, we get fancy and sprinkle a little furikake on top of the rice, and my husband occasionally tops his with a fried egg.
Thai ground pork
2 pounds organic ground pork
6-8 cloves of garlic, minced
4 Tbsp. Thai fish sauce, such as Red Boat
Avocado oil for the pan
black pepper to taste
Heat the avocado oil in a large, deep skillet or wok. Add the garlic and gently sautee it, allowing it to become golden and brown, but not burnt. Once the garlic is golden and crispy, add the ground pork. Break up the pork with a wooden spatula and continue to stir and break up the pieces as the pork cooks. This may take some patience and time, about 20 minutes, but continue to stir the pork and allow it to render down into caramelized bits. Ground meat tends to hold a lot of liquid, so make sure all the liquid cooks out as well. When the pork is golden and crispy, add the black pepper and fish sauce. Continue to stir all the ingredients together, allowing the pork to caramelize and render down even further with the fish sauce, concentrating the salty, briny flavors. Remove from the heat and serve immediately with steamed jasmine rice and any vegetable you like.