Doi Nei - Pork in Black Soy Bean Sauce
Doi Nei is a recipe from the North India/Thai/Burmese region. Its list of ingredients is very small, but the flavour is delicious. We used a tin of salted black beans widely available in Asian supermarkets - soy beans, not the small turtle beans associated with Mexican and other cuisines - and they are VERY salty! You may want to discard the cooking liquid in the tin and just add water, as we suggest, but they still pack a punch! Serve with plain rice to offset the strong flavours in the dish. serves 4-6
2 tbsp oil
800g lean pork, cut into chunks
1 heaped tbsp corn flour
6 small green chillies, finely chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 thumb-sized piece ginger, skin-on, grated
750ml water
180g tin fermented salted black beans, drained, rinsed and mashed
400g raw potatoes, cut into small pieces (new potatoes work best)
1-2 tsp lime juice to taste
Toss the pork in the cornflour.
Heat the oil in a wok or large pan and fry the pork until brown. Remove from the pan.
Gently fry the onion in the pan for a few minutes before adding the chillies and ginger.
Return the meat to the pan and add the beans and water. Bring to the boil, then turn down and simmer for about an hour.
Add the potatoes and continue to simmer until they are cooked and the meat is tender.
Add a little lime juice to taste, before serving with plain rice.