Poronui recipe series: Thai Pork Curry

“Whilst travelling Asia, I came across this amazing dish. However, the restaurant wouldn’t tell me what was in it. I played around with it for a few years but never really succeeded. It wasn’t until I was living in Melbourne and going to a very well-known restaurant called CHIN CHIN that I got there. They had something very similar on the menu and I was finally able to see the recipe. BINGO (it also tasted even better than I remember)!”

Thai Pork Curry
by Chef Steven Paterson

Ingredients

For the paste (this will keep for some time in an airtight container, refrigerated)

• 80g large dried red chillies
• 1 large knob of galangal
• 5 lemongrass stalks
• The zest of 1 lime
• ½ bunch coriander root washed (not the leaves)
• 1 large red onion, peeled and diced
• 3 heads of garlic, peeled
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp white pepper

For the curry

• 500g pork mince
• 1 can coconut cream
• 90g palm sugar, chopped
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 kaffir lime leaves, sliced thinly
• 250g peanuts, roasted and roughly chopped
• 1 cucumber
• Prawn crackers

Method

Preheat your oven to 160°C

Place the chillies, galangal, garlic, lime zest, coriander root, and onion in a baking tray. Pour over ¾ cup of water and cook in the oven until the water has evaporated.

Whilst the above is in the oven, toast the cumin and coriander seeds in a pan. Then grind them in a pestle and mortar and add the pepper.

Blitz the chilli mix until smooth. Then add the ground spices to the paste and mix well.

In a medium to hot frying pan, drizzle a little oil and cook the pork mince using a whisk to help stop any clumps of meat from forming. Once colored slightly, remove from the heat and set aside.

In another pan on a medium heat, drizzle a little oil and add two tbsp of your spice paste and cook out for a few minutes until fragrant. Then add the palm sugar and allow to caramelize slightly.

Next, add the peanuts and mix well. Add the pork mince and mix again. Finally, add the lime leaves, fish sauce, and almost all of the coconut cream. Allow the sauce to reduce so it becomes thick and not too saucy.

Serve with some wedges of cucumber, prawn crackers, and a drizzle of the remaining coconut cream.