Kao Ka Moo

This slow-braised stewed pork leg on rice dish is a crowd-pleaser at night markets, and it's a sight to behold when witnessing it prepared at a Thai food cart on the streets. Kao Ka Moo is cooked in huge aluminum pots with soy sauce and five-spice powder until the meat is tender enough to fall off the bone at roadside vendors. The braised pork is then sliced thinly on a big cutting board using cleavers and served with bok choi, pickled vegetables, and boiled eggs with a custardy yolk on a bed of rice.

Ingredients

• 1 Pork Shank, About 2 Pound or more, 3 Cups Vegetable or Peanut Oil, 8 Cups Water or enough to cover the leg in the pot, 1/4 Teaspoon Corriander Powder or 5-6 fresh corriander roots, 5 Big Cloves Garlic, 10 Szechuan Peppercorns, 2 Cinnamon Sticks, 1 inches each, 2 Star Anise, Whole, 5 Black Peppercorns, 1 Teaspoon Black Soy Sauce, 3 Tablespoons Thin Soy Sauce, 1 Tablespoon Golden Mountain Sauce, 1 Teaspoon Coarse Sea Salt, 4 Tablespoons Palm Sugar (depending on your taste), 1 Teaspoon Chinese Five Spice Powder, 5 Hard-Boiled Eggs, Peeled, 1 1/2 Cups Pickled Mustard Green, Fresh Bokchoy, Steamed

Instructions

• Heat oil in a wok or large pan over medium heat. Add pork shank, and turn up the heat a bit. Fry until golden brown on both sides. Transfer the leg to drain on a paper towel.
• Pound garlic, peppercorns, and corriander in a mortar and pestle until it becomes a fine paste. Set aside.
• Place fried pig leg in a pot and cover with water. Add garlic paste mixture, cinnamon, star anise, black soy, thin soy, Golden Mtn, salt, palm sugar, 5-spice, and eggs. Bring to a boil then reduce heat, and cook for another 2-3 hours until tender.
• While the pork is cooking, thinly slice the pickled mustard green, gently squeeze it to remove the pickling liquid, and rinse it one time in a colander. Then slowly boil it in a bit of water or chicken stock, about 1.5 cups, until water evaporates, and set aside.
• Separately, pound 2-3 fresh Thai chile peppers in a mortar and pestle. Transfer to a small sauce bowl, add 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 cup vinegar. This sauce should be served with the khao kha moo.
• Serve the meat over steamed jasmine rice, topped with some pickled mustard green and the chile-vinegar sauce.