Hung Lay
Hung Lay is a curry from northern Thailand, and is one of the flagship dishes of Chiang Mai. It is definitely less well known in western countries than dishes like red/green/yellow curry. Unlike most Thai curries, this dish is only slightly sweet, and is comparatively quite tangy. Rich, aromatic, and delicious!
Active Time: 45 min
Total Time: 2 hr
Ingredients
Curry paste:
> red chili peppers (10 long, dried, soaked in hot water for ~15 min)
> lemongrass (2 stalks, white part only, finely sliced)
> galangal (1.5 in, peeled, roughly chopped)
> shallots (2, roughly chopped)
> garam masala (1.5 tbsp)
> turmeric (1 tsp)
> shrimp paste (1 tsp)
> sea salt (2 tsp)
For the curry itself:
> pork belly (2 lb, cubed into 1.5 inch pieces)
> shallots (2, finely sliced)
> tamarind paste (1/4 cup)
> palm sugar (50g)
> sweet dark soy sauce (kecap manis, 1 tsp)
> fish sauce (2 tsp)
> young ginger (1.5 in, peeled, julienned)
> garlic cloves (8)
> cilantro
Instructions
1. To make the curry paste: process the chili peppers, lemongrass, galangal, shallots, garam masala, turmeric, shrimp paste, and sea salt in a food processor until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed. Add a couple of tablespoons of water if needed.
2. In a large heavy-bottom pot over medium heat, sweat shallots with some oil for ~4 minutes. Add the curry paste and cook, stirring, for ~1 minute. Add the pork and cook for ~5 minutes, or until the pork is starting to color. Add the tamarind, palm sugar, sweet dark soy sauce, and 1 cup fo water. Stir to combine.
3. Cover with a lid, turn the heat to medium-low, and let simmer for ~1 hour. Check it occasionally and add a bit more water if it's getting too dry.
4. Once the pork is mostly tender (let it braise for a little longer if needed), stir in the fish sauce, ginger, and garlic. Simmer for another 20-30 minutes, uncovered, or until the sauce has thickened and the pork is fork tender.
5. Top with coriander and serve with rice. Enjoy!
Notes/Tips:
> Some of the ingredients can be rather hard to find, particularly palm sugar and kecap manis. I substituted dark brown sugar for palm sugar, 1 tsp honey and 1/4 tsp dark soy sauce for the kecap manis. Feel free to also use lemongrass paste, canned galangal (which is shelf stable and you can order online), and regular ginger.
> You could also use pork ribs, or other cuts of braising pork that you prefer; pork belly is most traditional though.