I used to watch YouTube videos on how to make this dish that I loved so much and the first time I made it, it took hours!!

This is a quick and easy method to make the northern Thai favorite. This can be eaten as a main course, or as an appetizer. But if you’re familiar with Thai meals, every dish is part of the main course!

I will sometimes eat it with sliced cucumbers if I want lower carbs. Or I’ll spoon some over white rice. I also sometimes add chopped cilantro and diced green onions into the pot after the Nam Prik Ong is done cooking. Or, I will wait and add it to my plate/bowl.

The Shrimp Paste, or kapi (กะปิ) can overpower a dish if you add too much in. If you’re not used to shrimp paste, I would only add in 1 tsp rather than 2. If you don’t have access to buy shrimp paste, you can make this dish without it, although it won’t have that authentic flavor you’ll find in Thailand. If you do buy shrimp paste at your Asian market, store it in a sealed zip lock bag (I use a freezer bag since it’s thicker) in your refrigerator crisper. It will actually keep for quite a long time in there! And keep any of the smell in the ziplock! Lol

For lower sodium (as if that’s easy to do with delicious Thai food), omit the chicken broth powder and lessen the fish sauce. If you’re not watching your potassium, you can probably substitute ‘no salt’ alternatives. You’ll just want to use a small amount and add in more according to your taste test as it cooks.

The ingredients below have rough measurements. In Thai/Isaan cooking, we pretty much eyeball how much seasonings/sauces to add. I would err on the side of caution and go for the lower measurement and add more in later to taste.

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Ingredients:

•Ground pork (maybe 3/4-1 lb). You can also buy lean boneless pork and make your own ground pork with a cutting board and big knife (like we did)
•Diced tomatoes - about 2-3 big tomatoes or 4-5 Roma tomatoes
•2 Tbsp Fish Sauce
•1/2 tsp Sugar
•1 tsp Chicken broth powder
•Chopped Cilantro, optional
•Diced Green Onions, optional

Nam Prik Ong paste:
-With a mortar and pestle, pound these ingredients to make the paste:
•3-4 garlic cloves
•1 small diced shallot
•2-7 dried chilies (depending on how spicy you want)
•1-2 tsp shrimp paste


Directions:
1. Make your paste
2. Dice tomatoes
3. Heat oil in a pot/wok
4. Add in your paste and stir for about 30 seconds
5. Add in ground pork
6. Stir until almost cooked through, making sure to keep breaking up the pork
7. Add in diced tomatoes, stir. (here you can also add water to your mortar to get any leftover paste into the pot)
8. Add sugar and chicken broth powder, stir
9. Add fish sauce, stir
10. Cover and simmer on low for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally
11. Taste test to see if you need more fish sauce
12. Optional: add diced green onions and chopped cilantro to finished mixture and stir

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