There’s probably no northern Thai dish that says cold season more than kaeng kradaang, a gelatinous, terrine-like mixture of pork, herbs and spices that, in the past at least, required the relative chill of northern Thailand’s winter to make it.
“The weather was cooler then, and the dish firmed up on its own,” explains Nattapon Upama, for three decades a food vendor at Chiang Mai’s San Pa Khoy Market, and the source of this recipe. “These days, the weather is too hot, so I have to let it set in a refrigerator.”
Nattapon also uses the thickener agar-agar to make his kaeng kradaang (Thai for ‘hard curry’), which fittingly, he describes as the ‘city’ version of the dish: “In the countryside, they eat another version that includes chili and herbs – lemongrass and galangal,” the 53-year-old native of Phayao tells me. “The spiciness in my version comes from white pepper and garlic.”
The result is an overtly peppery, fragrant head cheese of sorts, one that, according to Nattapon, is tasty eaten with both long-grained or sticky rice or, like its western counterpart, other carbs: “Some people take it home, put it between two slices of bread and make a sandwich!”
Kaeng Kradaang
แกงกระด้าง
Northern Thai ‘head cheese’
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
For the Head Cheese
400 grams/14 ounces pork leg, including skin, fat and meat
100 grams pig ear
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon fish sauce
½ teaspoon ‘white’ soy sauce
¼ teaspoon agar-agar powder
For the Paste
4 small coriander roots (approximately 4 grams total), chopped
3 large cloves garlic (approximately 15 grams total), peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon white peppercorns
Sides
4 small bunches cilantro (approximately 20 grams total)
Thai Kitchen Tools
granite mortar and pestle
1 medium (9 inch) square metal baking pan
Procedure
The evening before serving the dish, to a medium saucepan over high heat, add the pork leg, pig ear and 1½ quarts of water. Bring to the boil, reduce heat to a simmer, cover the saucepan and simmer until pork is tender, about 45 minutes.
While the pork is simmering, make the paste: To a mortar and pestle, add the coriander roots, garlic and white peppercorns. Pound and grind to a fine paste.
Remove the pork leg and pork ear, retaining the broth. When cool enough to handle, slice the pork leg and cut into cubes approximately ½ inch square. Cut the pork ear into strips approximately ½ inch wide and slice thinly.
To a medium saucepan over high heat, add the paste, pork, 1 quart of the reserved broth, fish sauce, ‘white’ soy sauce and salt. Bring to the boil, reduce heat to a simmer and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Taste, adjusting seasoning if necessary; the kaeng kradaang should taste peppery and slightly salty, and be fragrant from the paste.
Remove a half cup or so of the broth, and in a small bowl, combine with the agar-agar, whisking to ensure that it’s completely combined. Return the mixture to the saucepan, stirring to combine.
Pour the mixture into a baking pan. If the weather is cool, leave overnight to set. Otherwise, allow to set in a refrigerator overnight.
When set, slice into sections about 1 inch wide and 5 inches long and serve, with sides of cilantro, with long-grained or sticky rice, as part of a northern Thai meal.