About this recipe
A Northern Thai chili relish of minced pork simmered with tomatoes, dried chilies and aromatics into a savory, gently spicy dip — sometimes called a 'Northern Thai bolognese' for its tomato-and-pork character. It is served as a communal dip with a platter of fresh and steamed vegetables, sticky rice and crispy pork rinds.
Recipe facts
- Yield
- 4–6 as a shared dip
- Prep
- 20 minutes
- Cook
- 30 minutes
- Total
- 50 minutes
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Spice
- Medium
Allergens Contains pork, shellfish (shrimp paste), fish (fish sauce). Gluten-free. Contains nightshade (tomato).
Development draft. This is an untested development recipe from the cookbook project. It has not been kitchen-tested, and the quantities and timings are the author’s working draft rather than a verified result.
Ingredients
Chili paste
- 6–8 dried red chilies, soaked and seeded
- 4 shallots; 4 cloves garlic
- 1 stalk lemongrass, sliced
- 1 tsp (5 g) shrimp paste (kapi)
- 1/2 tsp salt
The relish
- 10 oz (280 g) ground pork
- 10 oz (280 g) ripe tomatoes (or cherry tomatoes), chopped
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) neutral oil
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) fish sauce
- 1 tsp (5 g) palm sugar
To serve
- Steamed and raw vegetables (cabbage, long beans, cucumber), sticky rice, pork rinds
Equipment
- Mortar and pestle (or small processor)
- Skillet or wok
Method
- Pound the soaked chilies, shallots, garlic, lemongrass, shrimp paste and salt to a rough paste.
- Heat the oil and fry the paste over medium heat until deeply fragrant.
- Add the ground pork and cook, breaking it up, until it loses its raw color.
- Add the tomatoes and cook down, stirring, until they collapse into a thick, glossy relish, 15–20 minutes.
- Season with fish sauce and palm sugar; loosen with a little water if it gets too dry.
- Serve warm as a communal dip with the vegetable platter, sticky rice and pork rinds.
Uses from this chapter
- (This dish is itself a condiment-style relish) (This recipe / Foundations — Condiments intro) — Nam prik ong is a nam prik — a chili dip. It is served with fresh and steamed vegetables rather than needing a separate sauce.
The Complete Edition
Nam Prik Ong sits in the Thailand chapter
The book carries this recipe in full alongside the rest of the Thailand chapter, the pastes and dips it is built on, and the twenty-seven pantry studies that open the collection.
In review with Amazon KDP
Both editions have been submitted to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing and are currently in review. Submitted prices are $9.99 for the kindle edition and $49.99 for the paperback. Neither is on sale yet, and prices are as submitted rather than final.