A little while ago, I purchased my first professional light setup. Until this post I have either used natural lighting or a S.A.D. light with a white T-shirt draped across it for a light diffuser. I feel fairly confident that the professional light works much better, but I think some serious props are needed for that tried-and-true little S.A.D. light I’ve used for over 3 years. With this new investment, I have found it much easier to take beautiful shots and will be posting a bit more frequently.
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This week’s recipe was originally found on Facebook in one of my many food groups. It looked fairly simple and had my mouth watering while watching the short video explaining how to make it.
Thai chilies are once again on the menu, but this time they are the star. I used quite a few in this recipe and should warn you that this one packs a punch.
The green stuff in the bowl may be foreign to some viewers, but a trip to your Asian market will guarantee you a nice bunch of culantro to add to this salad. If you are wondering what the heck culantro is, check out this link from The Spruce Eats where they describe it quite well.
In the video I watched explaining this recipe, they used some sort of air-fryer or tabletop grill to cook their pork shoulder. I have neither, so opted to use a roasting rack in my oven. The result was a fantastic, caramelized piece of pork that was still nice and juicy. (make sure to reach 165f internal temp when cooking yours).
One other ingredient that I picked up at the Asian market was some fermented fish sauce. I have used fish sauce for a long time and even have a favorite brand, but I had never tried fermented fish sauce. The flavor and aroma are quite strong and the consistency is much more grainy. You should be able to find it next to the fish sauce in the market, mine was called BU-DO Sauce.
Apart from marinating the pork and roasting in the oven, this recipe comes together really quickly and is essentially a salad, with lots of pork, onions, veggies and copious amounts of Thai chilies.
Yum
Thai Grilled Pork Salad
A spicy and tangy pork salad best served cold
Ingredients
- 1 bunch Culantro chopped
- 2 Limes cut into wedges
- ½ Large red onion Or shallots, thinly sliced
- 2-3 lb Pork shoulder skin-on preferred
For the Marinade
- ½ tbsp Brown sugar
- 2 tbsp Light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Oyster sauce
- 1 tsp White pepper
For the Sauce
- ½ cup Water
- 3-4 tbsp Brown sugar
- 2 tbsp Fish sauce
- 3 tbsp Fermented fish sauce
- 15-30 Thai chilies depending on size, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp Lime juice
Instructions
For the Marinade
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Add all ingredients for the marinate to a bowl and combine, then place the pork shoulder in the bowl and coat well. Set this aside for 30 minutes to marinate.
For the Sauce
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Place your ½ cup water into a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Stir in the brown sugar and return to a boil for about 2 minutes or until the sugar has dissolved and some of the water has evaporated.
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Add your sugar mixture to a large mixing bowl and combine with the remaining sauce ingredients, along with the chopped up onion.
For the Pork
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Preheat oven to 375°f
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Once the pork has marinated for at least 30min, remove from the marinade and place on a roasting rack set inside a foil-lined baking sheet. Roast for 30-40 minutes or until the edges start to char and an internal temp of 165°f has been achieved. Check on the pork after about 15 minutes and flip to allow even cooking and caramelization.
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Allow the pork to cool and slice into thin, bite-sized pieces. Add your cut up pork to the mixing bowl holding the sauce, toss in the cut up culanto, then stir to cover everything in the sauce. All done!
Recipe Notes
I used about 35 Thai chilies when I made this… Don’t do that unless you want to be sweating and crying while you eat this, I would say 15 is just enough to give you the heat without boiling your tongue.