Nam Prik Ong - A Thai Chili Recipe

From AJS.COM

Nam Prik Ong is a Thai dish that's something like a pork chili con carne, but in Thailand this is used as a dipping sauce for sticky rice and other dippables. I first tried this at a restaurant in Lowell, Massachusetts called the Southeast Asian, and have rarely found it elsewhere. It's just not something that your average Thai restaurant expects Americans to be looking for. So, when I left Lowell, I had to figure out how to make it. This recipe isn't exact, but it does the best it can with a very American list of ingredients.

Contents 1 Ingredients 2 Cooking 3 Rice 4 Notes

Ingredients

• 1-2 Yellow onions, diced (add shallots as a variation)
• 2-4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 2 tbsp. oil (olive, vegetable or peanut are fine)
• 1-2 Scallions, chopped
• 1 egg
• 1 lb. ground pork
• 1-2 tbsp. Garlic Chili Sauce^[1]
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp fish sauce (nam pla, which should be available in your market's Asian section and online... soy sauce is an acceptable substitute, but won't give the same character)
• 1 12-16 oz can diced tomatoes, drained

Cooking

Cook the onions in the oil over med. high heat until they begin to brown. Add the garlic and cook about 30 sec. Add the pork, and continue to mix them together until the pork no longer looks raw (you don't have to fully cook it yet). Add the fish sauce, chili paste and tomato, mix and wait for the mixture to begin to simmer. You should also wait until the pungent aroma of the fish sauce fades, and it will, don't worry. Set the heat to low and cover. Let simmer for 15-30 minutes (the longer you let it go, the more the flavors will combine and develop).

Just before serving, lightly beat the egg in a bowl or cup (don't scramble it, just break it up a little bit) and pour it over the simmering Nam Prik Ong. Immediately turn off the heat, and stir in the egg. The residual heat will cook the egg nearly instantly, so serve quickly. Use the scallions to garnish. Fresh cilantro is also a popular garnish.

Rice

Traditionally, this is served with sticky rice. Sticky rice is a short-grained rice that becomes translucent and very sticky when steamed. If you don't have sticky rice, or don't want to take the time to prepare it, regular long-grain rice will do fine. Simply serve a healthy portion of the Nam Prik Ong over the rice in a bowl and add the scallion garnish. A slice of lime is a pleasant and traditional accompaniment at the table.

Notes

1. ↑ If you don't want to order Huey Fong Chili Garlic Sauce online (see the review at AJS Reviews), and don't have it locally, then you can substitute an equal amount of dried chili flakes that you soak in just enough water, oil and garlic powder to create a thick sauce.