Gaeng Hung Lay is a northern Thai pork curry with Burmese roots. It reflects the long connections between northern Thailand and neighboring Burma, now Myanmar.
Burmese, Shan and northern Thai communities traded, migrated and shared cooking traditions across the region. The name carries that history: gaeng means curry in Thai, while hung lay comes from the Burmese hin le, a curry name that traveled with the dish.
Tender pork, ginger and warm spices come together in a rich sauce balanced with tamarind and a little palm sugar. There’s no coconut milk, so the spices and pork really shine.
My version uses pork shoulder and a homemade curry paste, with roasted peanuts added toward the end. A makrut lime leaf gives the sauce a fragrant lift. There’s a little preparation up front, but once the pot is simmering in the oven, most of the work is done.
A little tip:
This recipe uses ¼ cup tamarind liquid prepared by soaking tamarind pulp in warm water for 15 minutes and straining out the seeds and fibers. If using a ready-made, pourable Thai tamarind paste, start with 2 Tbsp. For a thick, dark tamarind concentrate, start with 1 tsp. Taste the sauce after reducing and add more as needed; brands vary considerably in strength.
Ingredients:
Curry Paste:
4 Dried Prik Noi Chilies, or other hot chilies, stems removed
4 Kashmiri Chilies or Er Jing Tiao Chilies for color
3 Stalks Lemongrass, tough outer layers removed and tender lower portions finely sliced
5 Shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
5 Cloves Garlic, peeled
1½ tsp Shrimp Paste
½ tsp Sea Salt
Dry Spice Mixture:
1½ tsp Ground Coriander
½ tsp Ground Cumin
½ tsp Ground Galangal, or fresh, peeled and grated.
½ tsp Ground Turmeric
½ tsp Ground Black Pepper
⅛ tsp Ground Cinnamon
Pinch Ground Cardamom
Pinch Ground Cloves
Pork Curry
2½–2¾ pounds Boneless Pork Shoulder, cut into approximately 1½-inch pieces
2 Tbsp Cooking Oil
3 Shallots, peeled and sliced
2 Tbsp Fish Sauce, plus more to taste
2½ tsp Thai Dark Soy Sauce
3 Tbsp Palm Sugar, finely chopped or grated. You can sub light brown sugar. 4 Tbsp Tamarind Liquid, extracted from pulp, plus more to taste.
1 cup Water, plus more as needed
½ cup Fresh Ginger, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks
⅓ cup Unsalted Roasted Peanuts
1 Makrut Lime Leaf, lightly torn
Preparation:
Cover the dried chilies with hot water and soak until softened, approximately 20 minutes. Drain, reserving a little soaking water.
Place the chilies, lemongrass, shallots, garlic, shrimp paste and salt in a small food processor. Process into a paste, stopping to scrape down the sides. Add the reserved soaking water a tablespoon at a time only if needed to help the blades turn.
Combine the dry spices in a small bowl. Place the pork in a large bowl and mix thoroughly with the curry paste and dry spice mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Before cooking, stir the fish sauce, dark soy sauce, palm sugar and prepared tamarind liquid into the pork.
Preheat the oven to 325°F conventional or 300°F fan.
Heat the oil in a medium Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the sliced shallots and cook until softened. Add the pork and all its marinade. Cook for approximately 8 to 10 minutes, turning and stirring frequently, until the pork loses its raw appearance and the curry paste smells fragrant. Lower the heat if the paste starts sticking or scorching.
Add 1 cup water and scrape up any seasoning from the bottom of the pot. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover tightly and transfer to the oven. Cook for approximately 1½ hours, checking occasionally and adding a little water if needed to keep the bottom from drying out.
Test the pork with a fork. If it’s still firm, continue cooking covered until it’s nearly tender. Stir in the ginger, leave the lid off and return the pot to the oven for approximately 30 to 45 minutes, until the pork is very tender and the sauce has reduced. Stir occasionally as the sauce thickens.
Add the peanuts and torn makrut lime leaf for the final 20 minutes. The finished sauce should be rich and glossy, with enough gravy to spoon over rice. If it reaches the consistency you want before the pork is tender, add a splash of water and cover again.
Remove the lime leaf and taste the reduced sauce. Add fish sauce a teaspoon at a time if it needs more seasoning, or a small pinch of salt if the fish sauce flavor is already sufficient. Adjust the tamarind or palm sugar only if needed to balance the sourness and sweetness.
Let the curry rest off the heat for 10 minutes before serving with rice.
Gaeng Hung Lay- Northern Thai Pork Curry
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Cover the dried chilies with hot water and soak until softened, approximately 20 minutes. Drain, reserving a little soaking water.
- Place the chilies, lemongrass, shallots, garlic, shrimp paste and salt in a small food processor. Process into a paste, stopping to scrape down the sides. Add the reserved soaking water a tablespoon at a time only if needed to help the blades turn.
- Combine the dry spices in a small bowl. Place the pork in a large bowl and mix thoroughly with the curry paste and dry spice mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Before cooking, stir the fish sauce, dark soy sauce, palm sugar and prepared tamarind liquid into the pork.
- Preheat the oven to 325°F conventional or 300°F fan.
- Heat the oil in a medium Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the sliced shallots and cook until softened. Add the pork and all its marinade. Cook for approximately 8 to 10 minutes, turning and stirring frequently, until the pork loses its raw appearance and the curry paste smells fragrant. Lower the heat if the paste starts sticking or scorching.
- Add 1 cup water and scrape up any seasoning from the bottom of the pot. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover tightly and transfer to the oven. Cook for approximately 1½ hours, checking occasionally and adding a little water if needed to keep the bottom from drying out.
- Test the pork with a fork. If it’s still firm, continue cooking covered until it’s nearly tender. Stir in the ginger, leave the lid off and return the pot to the oven for approximately 30 to 45 minutes, until the pork is very tender and the sauce has reduced. Stir occasionally as the sauce thickens.
- Add the peanuts and torn makrut lime leaf for the final 20 minutes. The finished sauce should be rich and glossy, with enough gravy to spoon over rice. If it reaches the consistency you want before the pork is tender, add a splash of water and cover again.
- Remove the lime leaf and taste the reduced sauce. Add fish sauce a teaspoon at a time if it needs more seasoning, or a small pinch of salt if the fish sauce flavor is already sufficient. Adjust the tamarind or palm sugar only if needed to balance the sourness and sweetness.
- Let the curry rest off the heat for 10 minutes before serving with rice.