I must confess I was extremely excited about this week - I've been researching dishes a couple of weeks in advance and I have been excited about Bhutan for about 3 weeks. When I was researching I was really intrigued by how different the food is, it's unlike anything I've seen from any other country - yak cheese features heavily on many dishes and I deeply regret not being able to try it at this time. I wondered why it seemed like such a unique cuisine until I googled Bhutan and found out that apparently it's never been colonised - which means it has been able to establish a unique national identity.
I also found out that their food is some of the spiciest going and parents will often suck the food before giving it to their kids, so they get used to eating chilli from a young age! I know I've tested lemon on toddlers, I can't imagine their face with chilli but what a great initiation! The dish I chose this week looked delicious in the original video from where I got the recipe - sadly my photos really don't do it justice!
Actually, I really don't want to take away from the video so please see it below instead of a recipe, the quantities of what you use are quite flexible. I pre-cooked my pork for 35 minutes and I used a mix of pork shoulder and pork belly, I also added aubergine (at the same time as the potatoes) and pak choi just before serving!
Ingredients
Pork - cut into large cubes and boiled in salted water for 35 minutes (reserve some of the water)
Dried chillies
Chilly powder
ground ginger
1 red onion
vegetables of choice.
Method
Add the pork to a wok or frying pan and allow some of the pork to release fat. Add the chilli and chilli powder and add a bit of the reserved water. Cover for a few minutes to allow the chillies to slightly re-hydrate.
Add any vegetables that may need a while to cook (potatoes, aubergine). Once it's almost done add ground ginger, onion and any quick cooking vegetables. Serve with rice and be prepared for a spicy dish!
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