While really easy to make, this, so far, is my least-favorite Thai dish. To be fair, though, it’s supposed to be mainly used in other dishes, such as stir-frys, omelets and Thai salads.
It doesn’t taste bad, the problem for me is that it doesn’t really have any taste at all. The slices I show here were cut from the loaf and fried in a hot frypan with a little bit of oil.
With all that negativity, there are some good points: it’s really easy to make; made with lean pork, it’s pretty healthful, and it’s very low in sodium.
This recipe comes from True Thai, by Victor Sodsook, not to be confused with the True Thai by Hong Thaimee. They both can’t be “true” Thai. Or can they?
What you’ll need
- 0.75 lbs. lean boneless pork (I used tenderloin)
- 6 cloves garlic
- 1T white pepper
- 1.2t Thai soy sauce, or regular soy sauce
- 1.5t flour
- 1 small egg
What to do
Trim any fat from the pork and cut the meat into 1-inch cubes. Put all the ingredients into a food processor and process them into a paste-like consistency. It should be more finely ground than hamburger.
Remove the meat paste from the food processor and shape it into a loaf that’s about 7” X 3” X 2”. Because you’ll be wrapping the loaf in a double-layer of aluminum foil, I recommend just forming the loaf on a piece of foil. Wrap the loaf in two layers of foil and set aside.
Prepare your steamer—adding as much water as possible to the steamer, as the meat will need to be steamed for a long time. Once the steamer is ready and the water going at a medium boil, put the wrapped loaf on the top tier of the rack, then cover. Let the meat steam for an hour, regularly adding hot water as it boils off.
When it’s done, remove the meatloaf from the steamer and let it cool to room temperature while wrapped.
Serve with jasmine rice or use it as an ingredient for stir-frys, omelets or Thai salads.
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