{"id":30323,"title":"Khao Kha Moo – Thai Braised Pork Leg","modified":"2025-02-14T11:37:10+01:00","plain":"A delicious traditional Thai braised pork recipe that will fill your kitchen with the intoxicating aromas of Thai night markets\n\n\n\nIf there's one thing I directly associate with Thai cuisine, it's Khao kha moo (\u0e02\u0e49\u0e32\u0e27\u0e02\u0e32\u0e2b\u0e21\u0e39). Literally \u201cBraised pork with rice\u201d, it's one of the most popular street food dishes in Thailand. On the street, just like the famous chicken rice, if you look closely, you'll see it in every corner  \n\n\n\nPile of ultra-tender braised hocks in a Thai night market\n\n\n\nIn night markets, it's hard to miss these huge piles of pork hocks with an simply incredible aroma. In short, the dish is not just braised pork. Like Korean jokbal, it's served with a whole series of accompaniments and dipping sauces that we'll discover together in this article.   \n\n\n\nWhat is Khao Kha Moo?\n\n\n\nSo, at this point you know it's braised pork, but not just that! Kha Moo (\u0e02\u0e32\u0e2b\u0e21\u0e39) means braised pork, and if you only say that, you'll get the complete pork hock on your plate, yes indeed. Have I done this more than once? My general practitioner reads my posts, so I'll refrain from answering.    \n\n\n\nIn a family-run shop in Phuket operated by a couple for over 20 years\n\n\n\nOn the contrary, if you ask for the full name of Khao kha moo, you'll get the complete assortment: Pork braised for long hours in a sweet and salty broth until ultra-tender, rice, a good portion of the broth, dipping sauces, pickled mustard greens, coriander, and pickled eggs. \n\n\n\nIn short, a more than complete meal!\n\n\n\nAbout \u20ac1 for this dish\n\n\n\nAnother little tip, you can ask for a \u201cKawki\u201d (\u0e02\u0e49\u0e2d\u0e01\u0e34) which is a large round cut from the part just above the pork's foot, the joint. The best description is a pork knuckle round. Full of collagen\/gelatin, a bit more meat and less bone than the foot. It's a nice alternative.   \n\n\n\nWe can clearly see the part used for kwaki at the bottom left (photo taken in Phuket)\n\n\n\nTo end this section beautifully, if you love my Chinese braised pork, Vietnamese caramel pork, and other very tender meats, this dish is made for you.\n\n\n\nThe Main Ingredients of Khao Kha Moo\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDark soy sauce: A thicker and darker soy sauce, which brings a rich color and a more pronounced umami flavor to the dish.\n\n\n\nLight soy sauce: A more fluid and salty soy sauce, used to season without coloring the preparation too much.\n\n\n\nPalm sugar: A sugar with a deep and slightly caramelized taste, which balances the saltiness of the soy sauces and helps caramelize the pork hock. Use coconut sugar instead \n\n\n\nChinese five-spice: A spice blend typical of Chinese cuisine (star anise, cinnamon, cloves, Sichuan pepper, and fennel) that brings warmth and complexity to the dish.\n\n\n\nCoriander roots: Typical Thai ingredient, substitute with stems\n\n\n\nStar anise: Brings an anise-like and slightly sweet note to the broth.\n\n\n\nChinese cinnamon: Used in sticks to infuse the broth with a sweet and woody flavor.\n\n\n\nShiitake mushrooms: Add a tender texture and umami flavor to the dish after rehydration.\n\n\n\nThai chilies: Can be substituted with hot peppers from elsewhere, or omitted if you can't handle spicy food\n\n\n\nJasmine rice: Rice with a soft texture, perfect for absorbing the rich sauce of the dish.\n\n\n\nRice vinegar: Brings a touch of acidity to balance the richness of the dish in the Thai garlic sauce.\n\n\n\n\n\n\tKhao Kha Moo - Thai Braised Pork Leg\n\t\t\n\t\tA delicious traditional Thai braised pork recipe that will fill your kitchen with the intoxicating aromas of Thai night markets\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t1 Pork shank (thick, about 2-4 lbs)2 tablespoons dark soy sauce5 tablespoons light soy sauce8 tablespoons palm sugar (or coconut sugar)2 teaspoons salt2 tablespoons neutral oil2 tablespoons of Chinese five-spice powder1.5 L waterAromatics4 star anise2 cinnamon sticksSpice Paste4 coriander roots (substitute with coriander stems without leaves)4 cloves garlic1 teaspoon of black peppercorns0.25 teaspoon salt2 tablespoons water (for initial cooking)Side dishes4 Hard-boiled Eggs (peeled)Choy sum (added to taste)Pickled Mustard Greens (added to taste)6 shiitake mushrooms (dried)Jasmine rice (steamed)Thai Garlic Sauce3 tablespoons garlic (Finely chopped)2 coriander roots (finely minced, use coriander stems without leaves instead)2 Thai chilies (small size, finely minced)2 tablespoons rice vinegar\t\n\t\n\t\tPreparationSoak dried mushrooms in water for at least 30 min.Soak star anise and cinnamon for 10 minutes. Drain everything. In a mortar, crush the paste ingredients until you get a coarse paste.Coat the pork hock with oil.Heat a generous amount of oil in a large pot or wok over medium heat. Saut\u00e9 the paste for 1 min, stirring well. Add coconut sugar and tablespoons of water, mix until everything is well melted together.Add the 5 spices, and mix well until the mixture is homogeneous.Add the pork hock. Cook for 5 minutes, turning often. Add water until it's 3\/4 covered.Add cinnamon sticks, star anise, and pre-soaked mushrooms.Add light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and salt.Cover and bring to a high heat until it's bubbling vigorously, then reduce to low heat.Simmer for 3 hours on low heat, checking frequently to add water.Cut rehydrated mushrooms in half, remove stems.At 2 and a half hours of cooking, add hard-boiled eggs.Put the mushrooms back in.Once 3 hours have passed, remove the meat to slice for the plates.Leave the eggs and mushrooms to simmer in the broth until you're ready to serve.Thai Garlic Dipping SauceIn a mortar, pound the garlic, coriander roots, Thai chilies until you get a coarse paste.Put in a small bowl and mix with vinegar.PlatingRemove eggs and mushrooms from the broth.Turn to high heat and reduce the sauce by half after tasting to concentrate it.Blanch the choy sum in the broth and cut into 1.5-2 cm pieces.Serve immediately with steamed rice. Accompany with pickled mustard greens, sliced mushrooms, sliced eggs, preserved mustard, and enjoy. \t\n\t\n\t\tMake sure to control the temperature carefully at the beginning to avoid burning the ingredients.\nThe dish can be adjusted according to personal tastes, particularly by adding more or fewer Thai chilies.\n\t\n\t\n\t\tMain courseThaiPorc, Sauce soja dark, Sauce soja light, Vinaigre de riz","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}