Kroeung Miso Pork Hot Pot (Cambodian × Japanese)

Method

1. Toast the raw rice in a small dry pan over medium-low heat, shaking, for 5 min until deep golden, then cool and grind coarsely. This is sprinkled on at the end.

   Add in this stepRaw jasmine rice (for toasted rice powder) 1 tbsp

   medium-low heat

2. Make a quick kroeung: thinly slice the tender part of the lemongrass, the ginger, garlic and shallots, and strip and shred half the lime leaves (keep the rest whole). Pound everything in a mortar, or blend with 1 tbsp water, to a paste. Ginger replaces galangal here because it pairs so well with miso.

   Add in this stepLemongrass stalks 1½Fresh ginger 12 gGarlic cloves 2Small shallots 1Makrut lime leaves 1½

3. Heat the oil in a 22 cm hot-pot or wide shallow pot over medium heat and fry the kroeung for 2 min until fragrant, stirring all the time so it doesn't burn.

   Add in this stepNeutral oil 1 tbsp

   medium heat

4. Pour in the dashi, mirin, fish sauce and the whole lime leaves and add the kabocha, skin on, in 1 cm slices. Bring to the boil over high heat, then lower to medium heat and simmer for 8 min, until the squash is almost tender.

   Add in this stepDashi stock 750 mlMirin 1½ tbspFish sauce 1½ tspMakrut lime leaves 1½Kabocha squash 150 g

   high heat→medium heat

5. Cut the cabbage into bite-size pieces, stem the shiitake and score the caps, and slice the tofu 2 cm thick. Arrange them in neat sections in the pot and simmer over medium heat for 6 min, until the cabbage wilts.

   Add in this stepCabbage or Napa cabbage 200 gFresh shiitake mushrooms 4Firm tofu 150 g

   medium heat

6. Turn the heat down to medium-low heat, put the miso in a ladle and dissolve it into the broth; don't let it boil hard after this or the miso loses its aroma. Lay in the pork belly slice by slice and cook for 2 min, until no pink remains. Scatter with sliced spring onions and the toasted rice powder and bring the pot to the table to share.

   Add in this stepWhite (shiro) miso 2½ tbspThinly sliced pork belly (hot-pot slices) 200 gSpring onions 2

   medium-low heat