Moo Pa Lo Phad Haeng

Think of Thai food and the first images that come to mind are fragrant herbs and aromatics — lemongrass, ginger, kaffir lime leaves — tropical fruits, creamy curries, stir-fried noodles and jasmine rice.

While these are all typical Thai ingredients and dishes, visitors to the Land of Smiles might be surprised to find that there’s another common ingredient found in everything from noodle soup and phad grapao to simply grilled on a stick — pork.

In the northern part of the country, pork plays a particularly prominent role with local sausages like naem, a fermented sour sausage, and sai oua, stuffed full of chillies and herbs, eaten both in dishes and on their own. 

While pork may not be quite as prevalent in the rest of Thailand, specifically in the deep south where seafood and beef reign supreme, many Thai dishes show influences of traditional Chinese flavours and cooking techniques which regularly include the succulent meat.

At 5-star hotels across the country, talented chefs are raising the humble ingredient up to new levels and, with the Year of the Pig just around the corner in 2019, what better time to take a peek at some thoroughly indulgent pork dishes. 

To bring out the flavours even more, the dish below highlights a pairing recommendation made by Bart Duykers of Andaman Wine Club from each restaurant’s wine list.   andaman-wine-club.com; [email protected]

Villa Mahabhirom

It’s no surprise that the cuisine served at Villa Mahabhirom’s signature restaurant, Krua Mahabhirom, feature time-honoured Thai dishes with an air of contemporary sophistication — Chef Somkamol Namkram’s Moo Pa Lo Phad Haeng is a fantastic example of this. The Chinese-inspired dish features pork neck and streaky pork that have been stewed with a wealth of exotic spices, such as cloves, star anise, cinnamon, various peppers, cumin, cardamom and more. The main event is then topped with a quartered duck egg and served with a zesty Thai chilli relish. 

Wine companion: Some unusual vintages on this wine list, so I’ve opted for summer in a glass, in the shape of the Weingut Dreissigacker Cuvee Pinot & Co rosé from Germany. Beautiful strawberry fruit, a shimmer of raspberry and redcurrant. It has a very refreshing acidity and strength, perfect with pork.

View: villamahabhirom.com