The name gives it away: hang lay comes from the Burmese hin lay, and the recipe arrived with the teak traders who worked the northern forests in the 19th century. It is Thailand's great curry without coconut milk: the sauce binds slowly with ginger, tamarind and the vinegar from the pickled garlic. It is the banquet and wedding dish of Lanna, and northern families cook it a day ahead because it improves as it rests.
Ingredients
600 g pork belly in 3 cm cubes
2 tbsp gaeng hang lay (or massaman) curry paste
3 tbsp thinly sliced ginger
8 pickled garlic cloves and 2 tbsp of the pickling vinegar
2 tbsp tamarind paste
1 tbsp palm sugar and 1 tbsp fish sauce
40 g roasted peanuts
400 ml water
500–700 kcal per typical serving.
pork belly portion, no sticky rice (estimated from the typical recipe)
