Ribs & Jackfruit Curry with Tomato
This northern Thai dish is a water-based curry. Pork ribs give the broth delicious richness, tomatoes give umami, and young green jackfruit gives it a unique texture. Healthy, easy to make, and gluten free!
Ingredients
Curry paste
- 0.5 oz dried red chilies, see note 1
- 6 cloves garlic
- ½ cup chopped shallots
- 2-3 teaspoons fermented shrimp paste, see note 2
Jackfruit Curry
- 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
- 4 cups water
- 1 lb pork spare ribs, cut Asian style, see note 3
- 1-2 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 can young green jackfruit in brine, 20 ounces/550 mL, drained weight is 300g/10.5 oz
- 20 wild betel leaves or another leafy green, cut in 1 inch strips, see note 4
- 1 cup Cha-om (climbing wattle), see note 5
- Jasmine rice for serving
Notes
Notes:
- You can use any kind of dried red chilies depending on the spiciness you want. For a mild curry you can use large chilies such as guajillo or puya peppers. For more heat use smaller ones such as dried Thai chilies, or do a combination of both for something in between. If you want to reduce the heat of the chilies, do not put less chilies, just remove the seeds/pith as shown in the video. The amount given is the minimum required; you can add more if you like.
- For the shrimp paste, start out with 2 teaspoons and see if you want a little more “funk”. If you don’t have shrimp paste you can also add 1-2 tablespoons of miso paste instead.
- At Asian markets, you can find spare ribs that are cut into short pieces. They may already be cut into individual ribs, or left as long strips which you will have to separate yourself (please see video for cutting demo). You can also use full-sized ribs, but it’ll just be a little more clunky to eat.
- You may be able to find wild betel leaves at some stores that carry a lot of Thai or Vietnamese produce (it’s called la lot in Vietnamese and bai chaploo in Thai). Otherwise sturdy greens such as Chinese broccoli or Swiss chard will also work.
- Cha-om or climbing wattle is a Thai vegetable with a unique fragrance. You may be able to find it at some Thai grocery stores as fresh or frozen. You can substitute another non-neutral-flavoured greens such as chrysanthemum greens (called tong ho in Chinese; I use 2 cups of this) or whatever is available to you.
Instructions
- Add the ribs to a large pot, add the water and 1 tablespoon of the fish sauce and bring to a simmer over high heat, then lower the heat to maintain a simmer.
- Meanwhile, drain and rinse the jackfruit, cut them into small bite-sized pieces and add them to the pot.
- While the ribs cooks, make the curry paste. Grind the dried chilies into a powder in a spice grinder; set aside. In a mortar and pestle, pound the garlic and shallots into a rough paste, adding the chilies once the shallots and garlic start to feel wet. Once you have a rough paste, add the shrimp paste and pound to mix. The result does not need to be super fine.
- Skim off any scum from the broth, then add the curry paste. Stir to mix and continue to simmer until the pork is fork tender; between 45 mins to 1 hour total, depending on the thickness of the meat on the ribs.
- Once the ribs are tender, add all the greens and tomatoes and let it cook for just 1-2 minutes to wilt the greens and soften the tomatoes. You can add more water if necessary but you don't want too much water here, just enough to keep everything mostly submerged
- Taste and adjust seasoning with more fish sauce as needed; and if you want a little more umami funk, you can add more shrimp paste too. There should be enough natural sweetness from the tomatoes and the pork, but if you feel like it’s a little one dimensionally salty, you can add a touch of sugar to balance.
- Serve with jasmine rice. Enjoy!
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