Easy Waterfall Pork (หมูน้ำตก)

Waterfall Pork

You all may have heard about waterfall beef; it is a grilled beef thin sliced mixed with fresh herbs, lime juice, and chili flake dressing.  It is a typical dish in Northeast aka Isan of Thailand.  So many of the Papaya salad street vendors are selling this menu item along with the papaya salad, grilled chicken wings, spicy shredded bamboo-shot salad, and sticky rice.

Background

In the U.S, most Thai restaurants would have only one choice of meat for the waterfall dish.  Usually it's beef unlike in Thailand where there are two options to choose from; beef and pork.  Today, I made waterfall pork.

Waterfall Pork

Why Pork

Pork is the usual meat in the Thai kitchen, but not so much in here.  Once, I had a customer who used to live in Thailand.  He ordered food with pork all the time.  I told him we did not serve pork at the restaurant.  He was quite stunned.  He said, "there is pork everywhere in Thailand, and this is not normal to not serving pork in a Thai restaurant."

Why do we call this recipe "Waterfall"?

"Waterfall" in Isan (a Thai dialect) menu means the dish that uses beef or pork grilled to medium and sliced very thinly and flavored with the seasoning.  The reason for calling "waterfall" because in Thailand, they usually grill the meat on the charcoal.  They would be able to see the blood is dropping down like the waterfall.  That is how the recipe got its name.

Easy Waterfall Beef

What makes it healthier

I consider Waterfall Pork to be a relatively healthy recipe.  Pork has become significantly leaner in recent years.  It's also a grilled or roasted meat seasoned with chili, lime juice, fish sauce, fresh herbs and serves with fresh vegetables.  When you grill or roast a meat you can get rid od more of the bad fats.  I also trimmed some fat on the meat out before I cooked it (to make it lean as possible).

Calorie reduction

We were able to reduce the calories compared to this version significantly, by about 300 calories,  about ½.

How to serve it

In Thailand, they would serve waterfall with fresh green beans, cucumber, and cabbage.  Football season is just starting as I post this.  I think Waterfall Pork would be a good recipe for a football party. I put Waterfall Pork on lettuce leaves, so people can just grab it for an appetizer (btw, it goes along so well with beer).  Men tend to like this somewhat masculine recipe in particular.

Waterfall Pork Lettuce Wrap

Other ways to serve it

Another way to enjoy Waterfall Pork is eating it like American Salad.  Lay iceberg lettuce on a plate and top with the Waterfall Pork.

Waterfall Pork Served as A Salad

For parties

I have one tip if you want to use this recipe as an appetizer for your big group of guests. If you prepare this recipe for like 8 - 12 people or more, you do not need to flavor all the pork at once. You only need to grill or bake pork (slice it) and have the other ingredients ready. Every time that the food runs out just toss everything in a mixing bowl. It is better to serve when it is fresh.

Waterfall Pork