Vietnamese Devilled Pork Curry


Today's recycled meal is one of the most versatile dishes out there, a curry.
Not many Asian countries use pork in their meals but Vietnam is the exception, partly because of its past links with European countries.

 As I had some slow cooked pork left over I decided on a Vietnamese Devilled Pork Curry which, as the name suggests is pretty hot. You can tone this down to your taste if you prefer a milder curry.

 Traditionally this has a lot of ingredients but you can substitute most quite easily. See the pic below for ideas.
Check your cupboards and just use what you have available, this is a leftover dish so you don't want to be buying lots of stuff in, especially now when shopping is particularly difficult. 


The ingredients should include: White vinegar, light soy sauce, chillies, ginger, coriander, kafir lime leaves, lemon grass, garlic, turmeric, fish sauce (or shrimp paste) and of course leftover cooked pork. You could substitute boiled ham or even chicken too of course.

 Start by marinading the cooked pork in the sauces (white vinegar, soy, fish sauce and chilli sauce if using). Add the coriander, chopped garlic, grated ginger, turmeric and lemon grass.

 One tip is to have tubes of lazy garlic, chillies, ginger and lemon grass in the house, always very usef

 Fresh is of course better but they are a great fallback, for this dish you can substitute powdered 
spices, dried chillies, chilli flakes etc. if you don't have any fresh growing. Window pots are great as they will keep producing herbs for you so work out a lot cheaper. I keep a box just for odds and ends of spices, makes it easier to create recycled dishes.
Back to the curry, this is called Devilled cary for a reason, the heat from the chillies, if you love spicy then chop 3 or 4 small red Apache chillies and add to the mix, if you prefer a milder curry deseed them first or use a less hot chilli sauce or powder.

  Once again mix well and leave to stand for an hour, if possible in the fridge, preferably.

 When this is has finished marinading roughly chop up an onion, ideally a red onion but use what you have available as always. Gently fry the onion in a large wok or saucepan until just softening then add the marinated pork mix and stir well. 
Traditionally the Vietnamese will add beef stock (surprisingly) but you could use chicken or vegetable stock too, then leave to simmer. 

At this point judge if you have enough to make a meal for however many you need to, if not see what else you have to add to the curry. 

 I found half a Yellow pepper and some cooked red cabbage so added those to bulk it up a little. Small boiled potatoes will make it more Like a Thai Mussaman (Muslim) Curry

 The beauty of this kind of dish is there are no strict rules, which is why I have avoided giving you specific quantities of anything.

 As the meal is based around what you have left over you will need to just add and keep tasting (no double dipping) until you feel the balance is to your taste. There is no right or wrong with this as everyone's pallets are different, especially with spicy food.


All that is left to do now is to simmer the curry over a low heat until you are happy with the end result, remember to keep some stock back so that you can add to the curry if it does out too much. The longer and slower you cook this the more the flavours will develop, experiment, have fun and enjoy.

 Serve with some fragrant Jasmine rice, Basmati rice or even flatbread.






Disclaimer: The suggestions and tips on these blog pages are meant to be used in conjunction with common sense. Keeping your family healthy is the priority. Do not use food that is unfit for human consumption and always follow sensible food hygiene guidelines.

  

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/homehygiene/Pages/food-leftovers-safety.aspx


Always be careful in the kitchen, we accept no responsibility for any accidents caused as a direct or indirect result of preparing any of these dishes. Children should not be allowed to handle sharp cooking implements without the supervision of an adult. 

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