Nam - Crispy Fried Rice w/Sour Pork

This has become one of my favorite dishes to make even though it is labor intensive! (You'll have to cook the rice then divide the rice into balls and finally fry them in separate batches) However, it is worth every minute of work! The texture of this dish is crispy and soft and the flavors are slightly sweet, sour and spicy. These definitely are my favorite types of textures and flavors.

Nam, or Nam Khao, is a Laos dish consisting of crispy fried rice with fermented pork sausage (in Hmong, we call this sausage Nam). The pork sausage has a wonderful tangy and sour taste that goes perfectly with this crispy fried rice dish. Seems like every Nam Khao dish I've tried has been slightly different depending on the taste of the cook. I love this dish because you can add or take out some ingredients and it's still so delicious! It really is a dish that you can mold to your taste buds. My rendition has no fish sauce, peanuts, garlic/shallots or curry paste. Trust me, it's still super delicious and even better the next day!



Ingredients: 
3 cups of uncooked rice
1 large egg
1 can of coconut milk - sometimes I add 2 cans!
1 stick of nam - sour pork (this may be hard to find, I purchase mine at a local Laos restaurant)
1/2 cup of minced fresh ginger
1 cup of minced green onion
1 cup of minced cilantro
1/2 cup of dried peppers - you can find these in the ethnic isle, and all Mexican Supermarkets
3 limes - you may want to add 1 at a time and adjust to your taste
5 Thai chilies, minced - again, 1 at a time and adjust to your taste
Oil for frying - no Olive Oil - Canola or Vegetable oil

Missing: dry peppers

Optional: 
Romaine lettuce
Cilantro leaves for extra refreshing taste - but purely optional
Extra limes halves

Directions: 
Please wash and prepare rice as usual. I like to add a little bit of coconut milk in the uncooked rice and then cook as usual, but you do not have to do that. If you choose to add 1/4 of the can to the uncooked rice, please reserve 3/4ths of the coconut milk can for after the rice is finished cooking. However, you can hold off and add the full can of coconut milk to the cooked rice once it's finished cooking. Once the rice is cooked and then slightly cooled off please crack the single egg - egg yolk too- into the rice along with some salt and pepper. Do not crack the egg into steaming hot rice, you'll get scrambled eggs! Still yummy but not what we are going for.

Then now you'll start the fun part: forming the rice balls! I place some rice in my palm and I push and pack it down with my free hand, I suggest making them oval and flat - flat allows for more crispy rice! The rice balls must be really compact so the rice kernels do not break apart when frying. This takes some sweat and patience! I have a bowl of cold water nearby so I can clean my hands after every other rice ball - clean hands and wet hands help you form beautiful rice balls! :)

This is when you should start heating up your oil! Use your favorite frying pan/pot. Fry each rice ball until they are crispy and golden brown on the outside - they will be fluffy and moist inside! Yum!

Once the balls are all fried and cooled - break the balls up into smaller bite sized pieces - I like to break it all the way up but you can leave them bigger if you'd like. Now all you need to do is add the rest of the ingredients! Please add all the veggies - ginger, green onion, chilies and cilantro - then add one lime's juice at a time and taste as you go. Depending on how sour you like the dish you'll need to add more or less lime juice. When it is to your liking, break up the nam sausage into the dish, mix up one final time and serve with a side of lettuce and cilantro leaves.

Enjoy!
XX
Kathy