Sweet and Sour Red Curry of Water Spinach and Pork Belly (Kaeng The-pho) from Immm Rice & Beyond in Chicago
Author: 
Cuisine: Thai
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4-6
 
Ingredients
  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • ¼ teaspoon cardamom seeds
  • 3 dried red Thai long chilies (or guajillo chiles), stemmed, deseeded, cut into 1-inch pieces, soaked in warm water until soft, and squeezed dry
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon packed Thai shrimp paste
  • 1 tablespoon paper-thin slices lemongrass (from the bulbous part close to the root)
  • 1 4-ounce (114g) Maesri kang kua curry paste
  • 2 tablespoons finely diced shallots
  • 4 large cloves garlic, peeled
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 pound boneless pork belly, cut into ½-inch-thick slices and cut each slices crosswise 1½ inches wide
  • 1 14-ounce can coconut milk
  • 2 tablespoons fish sauce
  • 3 tablespoons prepared tamarind paste (made with 340g block of seedless tamarind pulp and 1 quart water)
  • 1 ounce grated palm sugar
  • 2 ounce (weight after trimmed off roots and though parts of stalks) water spinach (ong choy/choi or Chinese water morning glory), cut crosswise 2 1//2 inches long
  • One half (cut crosswise) of makrut lime (Omit if you can't find it. Do not use regular lime.)
Instructions
  1. Toast the cumin and cardamom seeds in a dry skillet over low heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes; transfer to a granite mortar.
  2. One at a time, add the chilies, salt, shrimp paste, lemongrass, curry paste, shallots and garlic; grind until smooth after each addition.
  3. Put the paste with the vegetable oil in a large wok or Dutch oven over medium-high heat until fragrance, about 1-2 minutes.
  4. Add the pork belly and stir just until the pork looks taut on the outside. Add the coconut milk, fish sauce, tamarind, and palm sugar; bring the mixture to a boil, cover, and simmer on medium until the pork is tender with some bite to it, about 20-25 minutes.
  5. Taste the sauce. Adjust the seasoning as needed with more fish sauce, tamarind, and sugar to achieve the three flavors of sweet, sour, and salty.
  6. Stir in the water spinach and the lime half. Push it all down with a spatula; add more water, if necessary to get everything submerged. Turn up the heat to high to bring the mixture back to a boil. Once it boils, turn off the heat immediately and let the residual heat cook the water spinach. Let the curry stand 30 minutes so the lime infuses the sauce. Remove and discard the lime after that. Serve with rice. But if you can wait, let it sit for at least 4-5 hours (in an air-conditioned kitchen) or let it cool completely then refrigerate it overnight and eat it the next day.
Recipe by SheSimmers at https://shesimmers.com/2017/03/sweet-sour-red-curry-water-spinach-pork-belly-kaeng-pho-immm-rice-beyond-chicago.html