Moo ping, succulent grilled pork skewers, are one of popular Thai street foods. Venders often sell them with sticky rice and tamarind dipping sauce.
Almost everywhere in Thailand, in cities, villages, markets, etc., every morning, there are familiarly common sights of venders with their busy hands sorting, preparing and grilling moo ping on food carts. Moo ping, succulent grilled pork skewers, are one of popular Thai street foods. Venders often sell them with plastic bags of sticky rice and small packages of tamarind dipping sauce or nam jim jaew dipping sauce.
They are made by marinating thin-bite-size pieces of pork with herbs and spices like garlic cloves, coriander roots and peppercorns and other ingredients. The pork is marinated for a few hours or overnight to soak up these wonderful flavours, then the pieces are threaded onto bamboo skewers and grilled (basting frequently with coconut milk to seal in all rich-deep flavours and moisture). Thai venders popularly grill moo ping over a charcoal brazier which heat is controlled by covering charcoal fire with a thin layer of ash.
Ingredients
- 1 kg pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch pieces with about 5-mm thick
- 10 large garlic cloves, peeled
- 5 coriander roots, roughly chopped
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- ½ cup light soy sauce
- ½ cup oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
- ¼ cup coconut milk
- 100 gm palm sugar
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup water
Additional requirements
- Coconut milk, for basting while grilling
- 15-cm bamboo skewers, for threading, soaked in water for an hour before using
- Tamarind dipping sauce or Nam jim jaew dipping sauce, for serving as accompaniment
Method
- To prepare the marinade, with a mortar and a pestle, pound the black pepper, garlic cloves and coriander roots together until ground and a paste is formed. Add the remaining ingredients and stir with a spoon to mix them well.
- Add the pork into a large bowl, pour with the marinade and knead and toss to thoroughly coat. Cover and marinate in a fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Thread the marinated pork onto bamboo skewers (approximately 4 pieces for each skewer).
- When ready to cook, Heat a grill to low-medium heat. Place the skewers on the grill and cook them for 2 to 3 minutes per each side, or until cooked through (basting occasionally each side with coconut milk). Remove from heat.
- Arrange the moo ping on a serving plate. Serve with tamarind dipping sauce or nam jim jaew dipping sauce.