Nam Prik Ong (Thai Spicy Pork and Tomato Dip with Veggies)

Ingredients

-  450    g ground pork
-  490    g plum tomatoes
-  18    g minced garlic
-  55    g onion
-  1    tbls grapeseed oil
-  3    tbls fish sauce
-  1    tbls of sugar
-  4    tbsp lime juice (1 lime)
-  20    chili peppers (10g, or less if you don't care for mouth fire)
-  118    ml water


Directions

1. Heat a heavy skillet over medium heat. When pre heated, toss in your whole tomatoes to dry roast them (No oil is needed) Let cook turning occasionally until cooked through and browned/blackened all over  5 - 10 minutes. Remove and set aside

2.  Repeat the same dry roasting procedure with the shallots, chilis and onions. Again, remove and set aside.

3.  Add the pork to your skillet (if it is too blackened, get a new skillet fired up) and cook through.

4.  In a mortar and pestle, squish squash the chili, shallots and garlic very well (you may use a blender if you don?t have a mortar and pestle here). When well smashed up, add in the tomatoes and squish them up too.

5.  Throw another heavy skillet on the stove top, and heat it up to medium high. When hot, add in the Tbls of oil and the pork, the chili-tomato-garlic-shallot paste, and the remaining ingredients, the water, fish sauce, sugar and lime juice.

6.  Heat it all up to a vigorous boil, and then reduce the heat and simmer until it is well combined and uniform, and has the consistency of a thick Bolognese pasta sauce.

7. Taste for seasoning and serve with fresh cut slices of cucumber and wedges of crisp cabbage , pork rinds are also a traditional accompaniment.