Thai Pork and Peanut Dip (Kao Tung Na Tung)
A classic Thai appetizer that never fails to impress. Ground pork and shrimp cooked with coconut milk and ground peanuts, with the sweet-salty-sour balance Thai food is known for. The best paring with rice crackers!
- Prep time
- --
- Cook time
- Not listed
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 125 g (4.4 oz) ground pork, or sub ground chicken
- 100 g (3.5 oz) shrimp (or use more ground pork/chicken)
- 4 cloves garlic
- ¼ tsp white peppercorn
- 2 cilantro roots or 6 cilantro stems
- 5 g mild dried chilies, such as guajillo (see note)
- 1 Tbsp (15 ml) neutral oil
- ½ cup coconut milk
- ⅓ cup (50 g) peanuts, roasted and ground into a coarse meal (see note)
- 2-3 Tbsp Thai tamarind paste (store bought or homemade)
- 1 ½ Tbsp (18 g) finely chopped palm sugar
- 1 ½ Tbsp (22.5 ml) fish sauce
- ¼ cup (30 g) thinly sliced shallot
- Plain rice crackers for serving, store bought or make your own
Instructions
- 1
Chop the shrimp into very small pieces, then using a cleaver or a large chef's knife, mince the shrimp using a quick chop-chop-chop motion until the shrimp resembles ground meat.
- 2
Grind the dried chilies in a coffee grinder into small flakes; set aside. In a mortar and pestle, add the garlic, peppercorns and cilantro roots and pound into a paste. Add ground chilies and pound to mix.
- 3
In a small pot, over medium heat, add a little vegetable oil and sauté the herb paste in it for 2 minutes until aromatic and slightly golden.
- 4
Add ¼ cup coconut milk, then saute the paste until the coconut milk is reduced and the oil starts to separate from the paste.
- 5
Add pork and shrimp and stir and mash to break up the meat. You want the texture to be quite fine so no big lumps!
- 6
Add the remaining ¼ cup coconut milk, peanuts, palm sugar, fish sauce, and tamarind. Simmer on low heat for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the shallots and cook for about 30 seconds just to wilt and remove the raw flavour. Add a splash of water if it becomes too dry—it should be moist and creamy but not runny. Remove from heat, then taste and adjust seasoning.
- 7
Garnish with cilantro leaves and dried chilies if desired. Serve the dip warm with rice crackers. Enjoy!