Thai Green Curry Pork Belly

Yummy Thai food!

     There are a few traditional versions of green curry in Thailand.  One is very pale in color and brothy with coconut milk.  There is very little green curry paste in that version.  Many other Thai green curry versions use more green curry paste for a bolder flavor.
     Thai eggplant is essential in Thai curries.  Thai eggplant is a small round breed of eggplant and it becomes the body of the curry sauce.  Many Thai green curry pastes contain Thai green eggplant.  Read the label of the green curry paste ingredients, before adding Thai eggplant to this recipe.  It seems like the larger containers of Thai curry paste are the ones that already have the Thai eggplant in the list of ingredients.  Smaller containers of Thai curry paste seem to only have the essential spice mixes.
     If I could read Thai language, then maybe the front of the curry paste container already states that eggplant is added.  Many items that I purchase in Chinatown Las Vegas do not come with translations on the labels.  That is a minor inconvenience, when purchasing authentic asian products!

     Thai Green Curry Pork Belly:
     Heat a saute pan or wok over medium heat.
     Add 1 small splash of vegetable oil.
     Add 6 ounces of pork belly that is cut into 3/4" to 1" cube shaped pieces.  (Cut the skin off of the pork belly, if it is attached.)
     Saute the pork belly, till it is very lightly browned on all sides.
     Add 4 whole cloves of garlic.
     Add 1 tiny handful of julienne sliced onion.
     Add 1 green jalapeno or green serrano pepper that is cut into thin strips.
     Add 1 tiny handful of red bell pepper strips.
     Add 1 finely minced Thai green eggplant.  (Only add the small Thai eggplant if it is not part of the green curry paste product mixture!  Thai green eggplant was included in the curry paste that I used for this recipe.)
     Saute till the garlic and vegetables become aromatic.
     Add 1 cup of water.
     Add 2 pinches of ground galangal.
     Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of Thai green curry paste.
     Stir the paste into the liquid.
     Simmer and reduce the sauce, till it starts to become thick.
     Reduce the temperature to medium low heat.  (The temperature must be low or the coconut milk will separate!)
     Add 1 cup of coconut milk.
     Add 2 thin sliced Thai basil leaves.
     Add 1 thin sliced kafir lime leaf.  (If no kafir lime leaf is available, then add 1 teaspoon of lime zest.)
     Add 1 generous squeeze of lime juice.
     Add sea salt and white pepper.  (Taste the sauce before adding salt!  Some Thai green curry pastes already have salt in the ingredients.)
     Add 1 small handful of trimmed snow peas.  (optional)
     Gently simmer and reduce the curry sauce, till it becomes a thin sauce consistency.
     Place the Thai green curry pork into a shallow casserole serving dish.
     Place the casserole dish on a serving plate.
     Garnish with thin slices of lime.
     Serve with Thai style sticky steamed rice on the side.

     Spicy Thai green curry!  You can make this curry mild by omitting the green chile pepper.  The coconut and lime flavors are noticeable in this green curry.  The fatty pork belly meat is very moist and tender.  It is up to the customer at the tables whether to trim the fat off of the pork meat or not.  The snow peas were an added vegetable garnish for this curry.  Yum!  ...  Shawna