Chiang Mai (Northern Thailand) Tourist Guide


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Chiang Mai Food:
Keb Moo

A Northern Favourite

When I was young, for every big party in a small village an area was cleared for killing either pig or buffalo in order to prepare enough meat for the big day. After the villagers had killed a pig or buffalo, they separated all the parts of the animal. The head, for example, would be used for a spirit-honouring ceremony, and the meat for cooking various dishes, with the result that the left-over item would be the skin. But that was not thrown away. On the contrary: it was and is regarded as a delicacy - keb moo�crispy pork rind, and keb kwai the buffalo equivalent

The way to preserve pork or buffalo skin is to fry it. Since there would be plenty of food for the big day, this particular item would be cooked and kept for meals the next day or later.

Keb moo or pork crackling is one of the most popular dishes of Northern Thai cuisine, and is always served with nam prik or chilli dip. Keb is an adjective in the Northern dialect meaning 'crispy'. There are many kinds of keb, such as, keb khai (crispy cow fat), keb kwai (crispy buffalo fat) and keb kai (crispy chicken skin). Actually, it's easier to find kep moo and keb kai than other types in the local markets, it seems to me, the reason being that they�re less greasy and smelly than the other types - though this is of course very much a matter of taste.

Crackling is now shifting from being a side dish to the main courses and becoming a munchy that we can enjoy any time. It's not only changing its role in the meal but also from high fat keb moo to low fat for health-concerned people. The low fat crispy pork variety is now replacing the traditional one and sharing high demand in the market. (Someone tells me that this type of keb moo is now being supplied by New Zealand). However for me, the traditional keb moo is and always will be my favourite.

How to make keb moo?

1. Find 2 kilos of clean and fresh pink pork skin, from which the hair and bristles have been cleared. Clean it with fresh water and leave it to dry.

2. Cut it in to 1-1.5 x 3 inches each piece. Season with salt and soy sauce to taste. Do not put too much soy sauce in because otherwise the pork skin will not be fluffy.

3. Put some oil in the wok and put all the seasoned pork in to it. Slowly heat it and keep stirring it gently. If the pork contains a lot of fat, do not put a lot of oil in the wok. Keep boiling it in the oil until it is cooked. (Note that when sufficiently cooked, the pieces will float).

4. When the pork is cooked, take it out and leave it to cool down.

5. Heat the oil again, when it is boiling fry the pork little by little.

6. Take it out of the wok and leave it cool.

Recently, the oil that remains after producing keb moo has become commercially valuable in bio-diesel production, which is now being researched in Chiang Mai. One thousand litres of the used oil can be processed and mixed with diesel, after production the total available fuel rising to more than 50,000 litres. That makes me think that Thai people are brayat...they never waste anything.