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Naga smoked pork with bamboo shoot
Smoked pork with bamboo shoot — Nagaland's fiery stew with raja mircha
Many Naga kitchens have a rack of pork hanging above the fire, slowly smoking for weeks, and this stew is what it is saved for. The smoky meat is simmered with sour fermented bamboo shoot, crushed ginger and garlic and raja mircha, the famously hot king chilli, with almost no oil and no ground spices. In Kohima it is festival food during the Hornbill Festival in December and Sunday food all year, served with rice and boiled greens. Chef's tip: smoked pork is already salty, so salt only at the very end.
- Total time
- 85 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ lb smoked porksmoked pork belly or a smoked pork hock from a butcher; or unsmoked pork belly plus 1 tsp smoked paprika; cut into 3 cm pieces
- 3 cups water
- 2 in gingercrushed
- 6 cloves garliccrushed
- 5 ½ oz fermented bamboo shootfrom Indian or Southeast Asian grocers; or 200 g tinned bamboo shoots, rinsed, plus 1 tbsp cider vinegar
- 1 raja mircha (king chilli)dried or fresh; or 2 dried red chillies plus a small piece of scotch bonnet
- 2 tomatoes (optional)chopped
- ½ tsp saltto taste
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Rinse 1 ⅓ lb smoked pork, put it in a heavy pot with 3 cups water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10 minutes and skim off the foam.
12 minStep 3: Squeeze 5 ½ oz fermented bamboo shoot lightly and add it with the 2 tomatoes, if using.
2 minStep 4: Handle 1 raja mircha (king chilli) with gloves and keep it away from your eyes: it is one of the hottest chillies in the world and not suitable for children. Slit it and add half first.
1 minStep 5: Simmer uncovered for 20–25 minutes, stirring now and then, until the pork is very tender and cooked through with no pink, and the liquid has reduced to a thick, smoky gravy. Taste and add more chilli if you want more heat.
25 minStep 6: Only now taste and add ½ tsp salt if needed. Common mistake: salting at the start; smoked meat releases salt as it cooks and the stew easily ends up too salty. Serve with rice.
1 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 540 kcal
- Protein
- 30 g
- Carbs
- 6 g
- Fat
- 44 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does naga smoked pork with bamboo shoot take?
- About 85 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 70 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- Is it very spicy?
- It has some heat. Use less chilli for a milder version, or more if you like it hot.
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
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