Burmese Pork Belly and Potato Curry

24 August 2020 By

Burmese cuisine is a diverse collection of foods from various regions of Myanmar, coastal, inland and hills. However its historical origins has also been influenced by the rich variety of cuisines of its neighbouring countries, in particular, China, India and Thailand.

So for this curry I have combined the two regional flavours of Thailand and India. The predominant flavour is imparted from the generous use of tamarind, as the recipe doesn’t contain any coconut. So the tangy flavour is the overall trademark of this curry which is made with succulent pork belly and creamy potatoes.

Fresh tamarind pulp is best if you can get access to this fruit pods otherwise gently boil dried tamarind which comes in a block in water for 10 minutes, allow to steep for a further 15 minutes then squeeze and strain for use. You can also opt for a quality tamarind pulp concentrate from an Asian grocer.

Burmese Pork and Potato

Ingredients − Serves 5

  • 3 tbsp peanut oil
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 5 cm piece cinnamon, broken into pieces
  • 2 lemongrass stalks, white part only, bashed
  • 6 shallots, quartered
  • 5 garlic cloves, sliced
  • 5 cm piece of ginger, finely shredded
  • 2 tbsp Latasha’s Kitchen Thai Red Curry Paste
  • 1 tbsp Latasha’s Kitchen Madras Curry Paste
  • 1 kg pork belly, cut into 5 cm chunks, blanched in boiling water. Reserve water for curry.
  • 3 large potatoes, Dutch Cream or Ruby Blue, quartered
  • ⅓ cup Pics or Mayer’s brand peanut paste
  • 60 g dried tamarind boiled for 8 minutes in 1 cup water, allow to steep for 15 mins than extract ½ cup tamarind juice
  • 2 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 tbsp palm sugar
  • Salt to taste

Garnish

  • 2 long red chillies, diagonally sliced
  • Coriander sprigs, thinly sliced spring onions and fried shallots
  • Roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped

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Method

  1. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat.
  2. Add cumin, cinnamon and lemongrass. Next add shallots, garlic, ginger and cook until fragrant (3-4 minutes).
  3. Then add both Latasha’s Kitchen Thai Red Curry Paste and Latasha’s Kitchen Madras Curry Paste and a dash of water and stir for 8 minutes on gentle heat .
  4. Add blanched pork and 1 litre water (use water that pork was blanched in) and bring to the boil. Cook with a lid over low heat for 40 minutes. Then add potatoes and cook for another 40 minutes. Next mix through peanut paste and tamarind juice, and continue to simmer for 10-15 minutes without the lid.
  5. Season to taste with fish sauce and palm sugar. Scatter with red chillies, coriander, spring onions, fried shallots and roasted peanuts.
  6. Serve with steamed jasmine rice.