Jungle curry of pork braised in hay, turmeric, krachai and peanuts

1.

Jungle curry paste: Pound all ingredients in a mortar and pestle to produce a fine paste or blitz all ingredients in a robot coupe or blender to form a fine paste.
2.

Pork braised in hay: In a bowl combine all ingredients except the chicken stock and the pork. In a large heavy based pot add some of the hay mix to create a bed and then cover with half the stock, place the sealed hocks on this and then continue to bury with the remaining hay. Cover with the stock and a cartouche, bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer. Braise for 3 - 3 ½ hours. At the 2 ½ hour point check at regular intervals to ensure you don’t overcook. Once cooked remove from the pot and strip from the bone breaking into large chunks of flesh. Set the skin aside and allow to cool. If you want you can shallow fry the skin to use as a garnish.
3.

Curry: Heat rendered pork fat in a wide pot. Add the pickled turmeric/garlic and fry until fragrant.  Add the jungle paste, krachai, peanuts, kaffir lime leaf and chopped scud chilli.  Continue to fry until fragrant, de-glaze pan with ½ the tamarind + lime juice and sugar add chicken stock and fish sauce and bring to boil.  Add pork and heat through.  Add veg & check seasoning, add the remaining tamarind and lime juice as necessary.  Finish with holy basil and Thai basil.

Recipes