Thai🥩 Meat

Southern Thai Braised Pork Belly (Moo Hong)

Name: Southern Thai Braised Pork Belly (Moo Hong)
Total time: 4 h
Cuisine: Thai
Ingredients: ~2 lb Pork belly (skin-on); ~½ cup Soy sauce; ~3 tbsp Dark soy sauce; ~1 tbsp Black peppercorns; ~5 cloves Garlic; ~3 tbsp Cilantro roots (or stems); ~2 tbsp Cooking oil; ~1 cup Unsalted chicken or pork stock; ~2 tbsp Palm sugar (or dark brown sugar); ~1 cup Water

⏱ 240 min

A Peranakan-style dish from Phuket, Thailand, featuring skin-on pork belly slow-braised in soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and palm sugar until fall-apart tender, with a rich reduced sauce perfect over jasmine rice.

Adapted from a video by Pailin's Kitchen

People always ask for this recipe after Phuket trip - MOO HONG

Watch on YouTube

Ingredients

Pork belly (skin-on)Cut into roughly 2 to 2.5 inch chunks, choose pieces with more meat than fat~2 lbest.
Soy sauce~½ cupest.
Dark soy sauceTraditionally Thai black soy sauce, but Chinese dark soy sauce works fine~3 tbspest.
Black peppercornsGround finely, for the herb paste~1 tbspest.
GarlicFor the herb paste~5 clovesest.
Cilantro roots (or stems)Cut into short pieces before pounding, to avoid long strings~3 tbspest.
Cooking oilFor sautéing the herb paste~2 tbspest.
Unsalted chicken or pork stockUsed to deglaze the pot

Steps

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1
Cut the pork belly into roughly 2 to 2.5 inch chunks, choosing pieces with more meat than fat, since they will shrink significantly during braising.
2
Marinate the pork chunks in soy sauce and dark soy sauce, tossing gently, skin side up, for at least 30 minutes up to overnight; this step is technically optional.
3
Grind the black pepper finely, then add garlic and short-cut cilantro roots, pounding into a coarse paste — this mixture is called the 'three friends' paste.
4
Heat a little oil in a pot and sauté the herb paste over medium-low heat until slightly golden.
5
Deglaze with unsalted chicken or pork stock, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom.
6
Add the palm sugar, then add all the pork and marinade. Use a pot just big enough for the pork to fit snugly, with liquid level just at or below the meat, skin side down and submerged.
7
Bring to a gentle simmer, cover loosely, and braise for about 1 hour.
8
After 1 hour, flip the pork pieces so any exposed parts get submerged, then continue simmering uncovered for another 1 to 1.5 hours to reduce the liquid into a thick, rich sauce, stirring occasionally and adding a splash of water if it dries out too fast.
9
After about 2 hours of total cooking, turn off the heat and test doneness by poking the thickest piece with a fork — it should go in with no resistance.
10
Skim off the layer of fat on top using a thin-edged ladle, continuing until you can no longer remove fat without taking too much sauce with it.
11
Check that the sauce comes up about halfway up the pork pieces — this isn't a soup, it should be rich but with enough sauce to spoon over rice.
12
Taste the sauce — it should be salty first, then sweet, with a strong peppery note; add a splash of water if too salty, or reduce further if too weak.
13
Plate the pork and serve with jasmine rice and vegetables or a salad on the side; save any leftover sauce as it's precious and great for cooking other dishes like chicken.

Southern Thai Braised Pork Belly (Moo Hong)

Ingredients

Steps

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