Kai Palo | Five Spice Pork Belly

Kai Palo, a Chinese influenced dish, is an amazingly fragrant Thai stew comprised of pork belly and eggs as well as a combination of herbs and spices. Most commonly made with pork belly, kai palo can be made with chicken as well. I switch between chicken drummets and pork belly when I cook kai palo. The best part of the stew is the caramelization of the sugars and blend of soy sauces, which create a delicate and aromatic sweetness to the dish.

Five spice powder is not required to make this dish! The only herbs and spices you need to make a delicious kai palo is cilantro, garlic, galangal, black peppercorns, and star anise. I have used five spice power to make palo and I did not like how it turned out! The five spice powder was too strong and overpowering.

Anywho, follow along below on my step by step instructions on how to make kai palo. For more tasty Thai recipes, check out these recipes:

• Chicken Larb
• Pad Krapow Chicken
• Thai Fried Rice
• Red Curry Fish Custard (Hor Mok Pla)
• Moo Daeng
• Stir-Fry Pad Macaroni
• Pad Mama
• Chicken Pad Prik King

DIRECTIONS

Marinate pork with one teaspoon of black soy sauce and let it sit for 10-15 minutes.

In a mortar, pound the garlic, peppercorns, and cilantro into a paste.

Heat a pot on medium-high heat and add the pork belly. Then, add the cilantro, black pepper and garlic paste. Next, add one teaspoon of light soy sauce, one teaspoon of black soy sauce and brown sugar. Stir-fry everything together for 2-3 minutes.

Pour water in the pot so it covers the meat. Add one more teaspoon of black soy sauce, one teaspoon of fish sauce and 1/8-inch slice of galangal. Galangal is hard to find so if you cannot find it, you can omit this from the ingredient list. Bring it to a boil and then let it simmer for 1 hour.

Boil eggs for 6 minutes. Let the eggs cool down and peel. After 30 minutes of simmering the kai palo, add in boiled eggs and fried tofu. Simmer for an additional 30 minutes.

After 1 hour, turn off the heat and your stew is ready. Please share your photos or feedback of my kai palo recipe! #shareurfoodieluv.

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Kai Palo | Five Spice Pork Belly

Kai Palo, a Chinese influenced dish, is an amazingly fragrant Thai stew comprised of pork belly and eggs as well as a combination of herbs and spices.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Thai

Keyword Kai palo

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Servings 4 people

Author TheFoodieLuv

Ingredients

• Water
• 6.5 ounces fried tofu optional
• 4 eggs
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 pound pork belly
• 1 star anise
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 1/4 tsp black peppercorns
• 1/8 inch galangal slice
• 3 tsp black soy sauce
• 1 tsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp fish sauce

Instructions

1. Marinate pork with one teaspoon of black soy sauce and let it sit for 10-15 minutes.

2. In a mortar, pound the garlic, black peppercorns, and cilantro into a paste.

3. Heat a pot on medium-high heat and add the pork belly. Then, add the cilantro, black pepper and garlic paste. Next, add one teaspoon of light soy sauce, one teaspoon of black soy sauce and the brown sugar. Stir-fry everything together for 2-3 minutes.

4. Pour water in the pot so it covers the meat. Add one more teaspoon of black soy sauce, one teaspoon of fish sauce and a 1/8-inch slice of galangal. Galangal is hard to find so if you cannot find it, you can omit this from the ingredient list.

5. Bring it to a boil and then let it simmer for 1 hour.

6. Boil eggs for 6 minutes. Let the eggs cool down and peel. After 30 minutes of cooking the kai palo, add in the boiled eggs and fried tofu. Continue simmering for 30 more minutes until it has reached an hour.

7. After 1 hour, turn off the heat and your stew is ready!