The following recipe translated from Phia Sings recipe collection

(First) ingredients

• 1 small rice-bowl (1/4 pint) of padek-(add 1/2 pint of water and) boil the padek until it is clear when strained *
• 300 grams of pork, free of fat, minced, rolled into a big ball, poached in the padek liquid until cooked, and then taken out of the pot and finely pounded
• 400 grams of pa nang (a catfish) or pa ked (any fish with scales)
• 1 kilo of pork bones (to make pork broth)
• 10 thin slices of galingale
• 10 straight - bulbed spring onions, both heads and leaves (salt)

Their preparation

1. Put 2 metal jugfuls (2 pints) of water in a pot, and put the pot on the fire.
2. Put in the pork, the fish, the galingale, spring onions and salt. Boil until the fish is cooked.
3. Take it out, debone it and pound the flesh finely.

Further ingredients and their preparation:

1. 15 (small) heads of garlic, the cloves to be peeled and finely chopped, then fried in pork fat until golden, and pounded
2. 15 (small) shallots, (peeled and) thinly sliced, fried until golden in pork fat and then pounded
3. 3 fully grown coconuts, husked and split open-grate the meat with a ka-tai ('rabbit'), put the extraction of coconut milk into a pot and boil it until the liquid is reduced, but without letting the cream separate, then take the pot off the fire
4. 6 red chilli peppers, grilled until they are soft-then remove the cores and pound the peppers as finely as possible before cooking them in coconut oil until a good aroma arises - do not let the mixture become overcooked or it will turn black (instead of red)
5. salt and ground pepper
6. chopped coriander leaves
7. lime (juice, to taste)

Vegetables to be eaten with the dish:

• banana 'flower' sliced into long slices
• 7 sweet young eggplants, sliced and fried in pork fat
• 1 bunch of water spinach (phak bong), fried until done and then cut into pieces about 3 cm long
• 13 yard-long beans, fried and cut into pieces 3 cm long
• 6 dried chillies, fried in pork fat until soft 2 na of rice vermicelli (cooked)

Method

1. Put the minced pork, the prepared fish, the pounded spring onions and the garlic in a mixing-bowl.
2. Add the padek sauce, previously prepared, and stir until these ingredients are mixed together, then add the pork broth and the (reduced) coconut milk.
3. Stir, taste and check the saltiness. Squeeze in some lime juice.
4. Add the fried mixture of red chilli peppers.
5. Transfer this whole mixture to a big bowl. Garnish with ground black pepper and chopped coriander leaves. (The sauce is now ready.)
6. Put the rice vermicelli on a platter, in the middle. Arrange the cut-up vegetables around it, and place the whole fried chilli peppers on top. Serve the sauce separately.

* Editors' Note. Phia Sing specifies that the straining should be done with a sua pao (part of a coconut tree) and kaen fai (which means cotton seed).  {Sua pao is a natural presentation of the coconut bark which looks like a fine brown sieve, this is then topped with cotton bolls and used as a filter to clarify the broth.} Filtration through muslin cloth will clarify the
broth sufficiently.