Plenty of cooks ask how to get mam chung right: a glossy golden surface, tender pork, and fermented fish that smells rich without turning harsh. It goes down well with hot rice and a plate of raw herbs.
The difficulty sits in choosing the mam ca com. Fermented anchovy with a deep chestnut brown color and a gentle aroma melts into the pork and egg. Pork ground at 7 parts lean to 3 parts fat keeps the bowl tender rather than dry after a long steam.
This batch weighs about 825g, at roughly 150 calories per 100g.
Method
Rinse the ground pork and let it drain. Mince the shallot, garlic and chili. Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat them.
Mix the ground pork with 50g mam ca com, 3g kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 2g pepper, 15g shallot and 10g minced garlic.
Add the egg and mix until the pork takes on the seasoning, then leave it for about 10 minutes.
Set the bowl over a steamer or in a water bath and cover it tightly.
Steam over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until the pork is tender, the egg has set and the mixture is thick and glossy gold.
Add the spring onion and ground pepper just before the heat goes off to lift the aroma.
Turn the mam chung into a serving bowl and eat it hot with white rice or rice vermicelli, alongside lettuce, mixed herbs, cucumber, bok choy and cauliflower.
Tips
Choose fermented fish with a deep chestnut brown color and a gentle rather than sharp smell, that is what keeps the dish balanced.
Pork shoulder or belly ground at 7 parts lean to 3 parts fat keeps mam chung tender.
A 10 minute rest before steaming lets the pork take up the fermented fish, shallot and garlic.
Medium heat and a tight lid give a smooth surface rather than a pitted one.
Spring onion and pepper scattered on right before the heat goes off carry the most aroma.
Beat the eggs only until they are blended, since a foamy mixture pits the surface during steaming.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.