Thai Pork Leg Stew (Khao Kha Moo): AFF Thailand

The Asian Food Fest (AFF) kicked off last month with Japan and this month it's Thailand in the limelight. Though I love Japanese food, I have not attempted any Japanese dishes at home hence my absence from AFF Japan. But Thai food, ah...that is another matter! I love Thai food very much too but it is something more familiar to me on the home front. 

I have heard quiet a bit about Thai Pork Leg Stew, how delicious it is and that it is a hawker fare in Thailand. Looking at the ingredients, it is quiet similar to our local "Tau Yu Bak" but with additional aromatics such as corriander root, star anise and five spice powder. I had been wanting to attempt this dish for a very long time. It is only now with AFF Thailand as a motivating factor that I finally cooked this very fragrant and delicious stew.

There are many versions of this recipe on the internet. Some recipes call for the aromatics to be sauteed while others say to just simply add them to the boiling water. Since there are two methods, I chose to saute the ingredients as I believe this brings out the flavours and aromas.  The pork leg is supposed to be deep fried first before being simmered but I skipped this step as I find it rather cumbersome.

Verdict? Ooohhh.....yummilicious! The gravy is sweet, salty and so aromatic. It goes so well with plain white rice and the tender pork meat (and fats!) was melt-in-your-mouth bliss! If you are an egg lover like me, be sure to add more hard boiled eggs. They taste pretty good after being simmered in the gravy. This dish tastes even better the next day after the flavours have developed and matured.

In my excitement, I forgot to prepare the chilli sauce that accompanies the stew. But that will have to wait until next time and I can be sure that next time will come in no time!

Thai Pork Leg Stew
Recipe source : Adapted from here

Ingredients :
- 1kg pork leg, cut to chunks
- 1 litre water
- 5 fresh coriander roots
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 star anise
- 8 black peppercorns
- 1 tbsp thick dark soya sauce
- 6 tbsp light soya sauce
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tbsp palm sugar
- 1 tsp five spice powder
- 5 hard boiled eggs

Method :
1. Pound garlic and corriander roots together with salt and black peppercorns into a paste.
2. Heat oil in pot and saute the pounded paste together with cinnamon stick and star anise until fragrant.
3. Add pork leg and fry until meat changes colour.
4. Add water, light and dark soya sauce, palm sugar, five spice powder and eggs.
5. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to simmer for about 2 hours until meat is tender.
6. Serve with white rice.

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest Thailand November 2013 hosted by Lena of Frozen Wings.