Mam tep chung thit gives you a pan of red brown paste, salty and sweet at once, the kind that empties a bowl of hot rice. The difficulty is taking the hard edge off the salt in the mam tep while keeping its distinctive smell.
Half the shallot, garlic, lemongrass and chili is fried at the start and the other half goes in at the end for a final 3 minutes. That is what gives the pan far more aroma than frying it all at once.
This batch weighs about 691g, at roughly 199 calories per 100g.
Method
Buy the pork ready ground or chop it finely at home, either works.
Wash the lemongrass, bruise it and chop it very fine so it is not gritty to eat. Peel and chop the shallot and garlic. Stem the chili and chop it.
Set a pan over the heat with 3 tablespoons cooking oil, and once the oil is hot fry half the chopped shallot, garlic, lemongrass and chili until fragrant.
When the shallot and garlic turn golden, add the ground pork and stir it steadily over medium heat.
Once the pork has firmed up, raise the heat and stir in 5 tablespoons mam tep. Follow with 2 tablespoons annatto oil, 1/2 tablespoon MSG and 1/2 tablespoon kOBE Monk Fruit Blend.
Lower the heat, stir and simmer for another 5 minutes so the pork takes up the mam tep.
Add the rest of the shallot, garlic, lemongrass and chili, simmer for 3 more minutes and turn off the heat.
Tips
Holding back half the shallot, garlic, lemongrass and chili until the end gives far more aroma than frying it all at the start.
Chop the lemongrass very fine so it is not gritty to eat.
The ground pork needs some fat in it, since all lean meat steams up dry and grainy.
Annatto oil gives the handsome red brown color, and it goes in at the same time as the mam tep.
Keep the heat low for the final simmer, since high heat scorches the paste and turns it bitter.
Let it cool completely before it goes into a clean jar in the fridge.
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.