Making Pok Pok Thai Sweet Pork Recipe (Muu Wan)
We made our first recipe from the new Pok Pok cookbook a few weeks ago, but have not yet had the chance to share our results with you. This is a three part menu, which is actually probably one of the less time-consuming menus in Andy’s detailed cookbook.
Khao Mon Som Tam is a classic Thai menu – Khao Mon is coconut rice and the Som Tam is spicy papaya salad and Andy pairs these two dishes with this Sweet Pork recipe (Muu Wan). You can get the rest of the recipes here.
The good news is that Andy’s Sweet Pork recipe can be prepared up to a week in advance and refrigerated until needed, making it ideal for the holiday season. Plus it is a straight-forward, easy recipe to make and we have all the Andy-approved ingredients bundled together in a kit right here in our online grocery.
For this recipe you will need the following ingredients:
- 1 (2 pound) piece boneless pork shoulder, gristle and large pockets of fat trimmed
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon Thai sweet soy sauce
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon Thai thin soy sauce
- 2 1/2 ounces palm sugar, very coarsely chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground Thai white pepper
Preparation
Cut the pork, with (not against) the grain of the meat, into approximately 5-inch-long slabs that are about 3/4 inch thick
Combine the pork, both soy sauces, palm sugar, and white pepper in a heavy-bottomed pot and stir to coat the pork. Set the pot over medium-high heat, bring the liquid to a strong simmer (make sure it never boils or it’ll burn), then cover the pot and decrease the heat to maintain a steady simmer. Cook until the pork is so tender that it breaks easily into shreds when you prod it, about 1 1/2 hours.
With the pot still on the heat, use a sturdy whisk or large spoon to mash the pork until it’s all in small shreds. Increase the heat, bring the liquid to a steady simmer, and cook, uncovered, until the liquid has evaporated and the shreds glisten and look sticky, like candy, 5 to 20 minutes, depending on how much liquid the pork gave off during cooking. You’ll have about 3 1/2 cups of shredded pork.
If you’re planning to eat it right away, let it cool slightly. Otherwise, let it fully cool, and store it in a covered container in the fridge for up to a week. Reheat it in the microwave or in a pot over very low heat. This dish can also be served as part of many different Thai menus. See the entire menu for the Pok Pok Cookbook Khao Mon Som Tam in our recipe section. In our next blog post we will be making the Coconut Rice as part of this menu.
2 Comments on "Making Pok Pok Thai Sweet Pork Recipe (Muu Wan)"