Nam Prik Ong — Northern Tomato Relish / น้ำพริกอ่อง

Ingredients

• 400 g cherry tomatoes, charred whole over direct flame or in a dry pan until skins blister and darken
• 250 g minced pork
• 4 dried red chillies, soaked and drained
• 4 shallots, charred in their skins, then peeled
• 4 cloves garlic, charred in skin, then peeled
• 1 tbsp fermented soybean paste (tao jiew)
• 1 tbsp fish sauce, to season at the end; adjust to taste

Method

1. 1
   Place the cherry tomatoes, shallots, and garlic directly over a gas flame or in a dry iron pan over high heat, turning occasionally, so that the fierce dry heat collapses the flesh and drives a deep smokiness into the aromatics that no amount of sautéing can replicate. Continue until the skins are uniformly blistered and darkened in patches. The tomatoes are ready when they collapse slightly and the charred skin lifts easily.
2. 2
   Peel the shallots and garlic, then pound the dried chillies first in a heavy mortar until broken down before adding the shallots and garlic — starting with the chillies alone lets them splinter cleanly rather than flying out from beneath wet aromatics. Add the fermented soybean paste (tao jiew) and work it in. The paste is ready when the chillies are fully broken and the aromatics are coarsely amalgamated but not smooth.
3. 3
   Transfer the paste to a wok or heavy pan over medium heat with a small amount of rendered pork fat or neutral oil, so the fat carries the fat-soluble heat and fragrance of the chillies through the finished dish rather than letting them sit on the surface. Fry, stirring, until the paste is fragrant and beginning to stick slightly to the pan. Underfry and the relish will taste raw and sharp; go too far and the chilli will turn acrid.
4. 4
   Add the minced pork and cook, breaking it up, until no pink remains and the fat has begun to render and pool visibly in the pan, since that pooling fat tells you the meat is properly cooked through and is beginning to fry rather than merely steam in its own moisture. Keep the heat at medium so the meat colours gently and does not tighten into hard grains.
5. 5
   Add the charred tomatoes, crushing them roughly into the meat as they go in so that distinct pieces of tomato flesh remain visible and give the finished relish its characteristic body and texture rather than dissolving into a sauce. Cook over medium heat, stirring and pressing, until the mixture has reduced to a concentrated, almost dry relish and the fat separates cleanly around the edges of the pan. The relish is ready when it no longer looks wet and the oil sits clear.
6. 6
   Season with fish sauce. Taste for salt, bearing in mind that tao jiew has already contributed salinity, and adjust only if needed. The finished relish should be savoury, slightly sweet from the tomato, and deeply smoky.