Nam Tok Moo

Ingredients

• 600 g pork neck (moo kor), in one thick slab
• 1 tsp fish sauce, for rubbing the pork
• 1 tsp caster sugar, for rubbing the pork
• 3 tbsp uncooked Thai glutinous rice
• 4 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 3 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp palm sugar
• 2 tsp roasted chilli flakes (phrik pon)
• 4 shallots, thinly sliced
• 3 spring onions, sliced into rounds
• 1 large handful mint leaves
• 4 sawtooth coriander (culantro) leaves, shredded
• Sticky rice, raw cabbage, long beans and cucumber, to serve

Before you cook

• Pat the pork dry and rub it all over with 1 teaspoon of fish sauce and 1 teaspoon of sugar.
• Leave the pork on the counter for 20 minutes to take on the seasoning.
• Slice the shallots as thinly as you can and drop them into a large mixing bowl.
• Slice the spring onions into thin rounds and add them to the same bowl.
• Pick the mint leaves off their stems and shred the sawtooth coriander crossways.
• Squeeze the limes and measure out the fish sauce so the dressing is ready by the board.

Steps

1. Put the glutinous rice into a dry frying pan over medium-low heat.
2. Toast the rice for about 10 minutes, shaking the pan often, until every grain is the colour of dark honey and the kitchen smells nutty.
3. Tip the toasted rice into a mortar and pound it to a coarse, sandy powder, then set it aside.
4. Heat a charcoal grill or a heavy cast iron pan until it is very hot.
5. Grill the pork for 6 to 7 minutes on the first side, until it is deeply browned and the fat has taken some char.
6. Turn the pork and grill the second side for 5 to 6 minutes, until the centre is only just pink.
7. Move the pork to a board and let it rest for 10 minutes so the juices settle.
8. Slice the pork across the grain into pieces about 3 mm thick, keeping any juice that runs onto the board.
9. Add the warm pork and its juices to the bowl of shallots and spring onions.
10. Pour over the lime juice and fish sauce, add the palm sugar and chilli flakes, and toss it all together with your hands.
11. Taste and adjust so it hits sour first, then salty, then heat, with only a whisper of sweetness.
12. Add the mint, the sawtooth coriander and the toasted rice powder, and fold them through just twice so the powder stays gritty.
13. Serve at once with warm sticky rice and a plate of raw cabbage, long beans and cucumber.