Quite some time ago, I watched an episode of Diner’s Drive-Ins and Dives, the Best of Las Vegas. Ming Tsai just couldn’t seem to get over Nam Prik Ong from the Lotus of Siam. And I couldn’t get over his ravings! Months later, I finally made it.
Nam Prik Ong
Now, obviously I’m not Thai, I’m not even Asian; I mean, look at my photo. But I love to be able to make great food at home, and this recipe seemed simple enough to master after watching the video. I then googled around, and found out just how wrong I was.
One blogger in particular, Pranee, has posted what looks like a fantastic version of this Tomato, Pork & Chili Dip and Thai Food Master has another. I quickly determined that every family and restaurant must have their own variations, ranging from surprisingly simple to ultra complicated! Eating Thai Food has a wonderful post on the variations of Nam Prik that was an eye opener for me.
Nom Prik Ong from Lotus of Siam, courtesy of Food Network
Now, I live (most of the time) in Minnesota, so if you’re like me and it’s 8:00 at night and you HAVE to make Nam Prik Ong, and make it now, here’s a simple recipe made from what I could find at my Minnesota neighborhood store. It’s delish and it warmed up our evening – yeah, there’s a bit of spice, here, and a lot of flavor! It is tempered by the vegetables and pork rinds, so don’t let it scare you. Unless you’re a Minnesotan!
I made this the first time in the food processor, lacking a rough mortar and pestle, the second time I heavily mashed in the skillet with a fork before and then again as I cooked it. I like the second version better. If you have a mortar and pestle, use them. If not, hand mash or use your food processor. Note that I should have gotten this a little more cohesive and worked it more and I should have remembered to garnish with the cilantro!
Nam Prik Ong as featured by Ming Tsai, Diners Drive Ins DIves
Nam Prik Ong
- 1/2″ piece ginger, sliced thinly
- 4 shallots, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed
- 5 – 10 Thai chilis, sliced thinly (I liked seven)
- 2 to 3 cilantro stems, minced, reserve leaves, roughly chopped, for garnish
- 1/2 pound ground pork
- 8 to 10 cherry tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon anchovy paste
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce, or to taste
- finely grated rind from 1/2 lemon
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- salt, if desired
If using a mortar and pestle, smash together shallots, ginger, cilantro stems, garlic into a paste. Add chilies and smash until bruised and incorporated. Add pork and mix heavily. Add tomatoes and rest of ingredients and continue to work mixture until blended and tomatoes have burst.
Heat, stirring, until pork is cooked through and some of the liquid has evaporated, making this a thick, saucy mixture. Garnish with Cilantro.
Serve with an assortment of vegetables and pork rinds, and sticky rice if desired.
From the kitchen of http://www.frugalhausfrau.com, adapted from Lotus of Siam and Pranee’s Thai Kitchen
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You know I’ll be bringing this to our Throwback Thursday #20 Link Party, hosted by Quinn of Dad What’s for Dinner, Meaghan of 4 Sons are Us, Alli of Tornadough, and Moi! That’s right – me! Click over to our Throwback Thursday post for rules and more info or just click on the blue leapfrog, below, to view all the posts or enter your own!
I’ll also be linking up with Angie of Fiesta Friday, her 101st consecutive party! Her co-hosts this week are Juhls of the Not so Creative Cook and Mr. Fitz of Cooking with Mr. Fitz. I can’t wait to see what those two come up with!!
My Nam Prik Ong was featured on Fiesta Friday!
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