Commonly served as a side dish or appetizer, this savory pork dish is something the PJ Daddy’s wife serves us as a main entree. No complaints here! It’s incredibly tasty and satisfying, not too spicy for those who are wary of the legendary spiciness of Thai cooking.
This recipe requires the extensive use of a mortar and pestle. It’s quite common in Thai cooking and I really prefer the results as compared to trying to use a food processor. However, if you don’t have one, a food processor will do. 
This recipe is also a multi-tasker’s recipe. Several things will be cooking or being prepared simultaneously. I recommend reading through the recipe carefully before you begin to cook.
Note: Preparation and cooking time is 3 hours and more. Because this is Thai cooking, all measurements are ballpark estimates. Seriously, I learn all of my Thai cooking helping in the kitchen alongside someone who already knows how to cook the dish. Capturing this in recipe form is a best guess but it’s key to taste and season until it comes out the way you prefer.
Nam Prik Ong Ingredients:
2 whole heads of garlic, cleaned and de-papered
1/2 cup shallots, thinly sliced
2 tsp shrimp paste
1/4 cup Cilantro roots, thoroughly cleaned
2 cans red curry paste
1/2 cup of vegetable or cooking oil
10 medium to large vine ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
1/2 cube Knorr pork bouillon
3 to 5 tsp fish sauce
1 to 2 tsp mushroom flavored soy sauce
1 Tbsp wet, seedless tamarind
1 to 1 1/2 lbs ground pork
2 Tbsp palm sugar
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped (garnish)
Shrimp Garnish and Noodle Ingredients:
1 whole head of garlic, cleaned and de-papered
1/2 cup of vegetable or cooking oil
dash of salt
1 large package of rice vermicelli noodles
3 lbs raw, jumbo shrimp – cleaned and deveined
1/4 cube Knorr chicken bouillion
Directions:
In a mortar and pestle, pound garlic cloves from two whole heads. Garlic should be thoroughly mashed, not liquefied. Set aside in a small bowl with thinly sliced shallots.
In the same mortar and pestle, pound the garlic cloves from the remaining head of garlic for the garnish and noodles. In a medium frying pan, heat oil and add a dash of salt. The oil should be very hot. Add only mashed garlic from the 1 head, just mashed in the mortar and pestle. Fry the garlic evenly until it just turns a very light gold, a couple of minutes. Remove the entire pan from heat and set aside for later.
Wrap shrimp paste loosely in aluminum foil. Bake in toaster oven at 450F for about 10 min or until it takes on a roasted, aromatic scent.
In a clean mortar and pestle, pound cilantro roots. Add roasted shrimp paste. Continue to pound until thoroughly mashed and mixed. Add red curry paste (for less spicy, add only one and a half cans). Continue to pound until entire mixture is thoroughly mashed and mixed.
In a very large wok, heat half a cup of oil over high heat. The wok and oil should be very hot. Add the 2 whole heads of pounded garlic and shallots. Fry evenly until just turning a light golden brown, a couple of minutes. Add curry and shrimp paste mixture. Stir to mix thoroughly and continue to cook about 2 minutes. Add chopped tomatoes. Carefully stir to ensure tomatoes are thoroughly coated with curry and shrimp paste mixture. Continue to cook over medium high heat until the tomatoes are soft, about 10 to 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, rinse wet, seedless tamarind in cold water. Place the tamarind in a small bowl and add 1/4 cup very hot to boiling water. Using the back end of a spoon, mash the tamarind into a paste with the hot water. This will extract the flavor of the tamarind.
Once the tomatoes are soft in the wok, season: add pork bouillon, fish sauce, mushroom flavored soy sauce. Stir and continue to cook over medium high heat for another 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the noodles. rinse the uncooked noodles first in cold water. Then in a large bowl, soak in very hot water. Set aside.
Return to the tomato mixture. Stir, scraping the sides of the wok to be sure nothing is sticking. Add ground pork. Stir to mix thoroughly, breaking up any large chunks of ground pork. Continue to cook over medium high heat for at least 30 minutes or until pork is thoroughly cooked.
Season the tomato and pork mixture: add palm sugar and oyster sauce. Taking just the liquid extracted from the tamarind and not the seeds or paste, add 2 Tablespoons of tamarind juice. Stir thoroughly and continue to cook over medium high heat for another 45 minutes or so. Allow to remain uncovered to reduce liquid and intensify flavor.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to boil. Add 2 Tablespoons of the previously prepared fried garlic and oil.
Drain the soaking rice noodles and then cook in the boiling water for about 1 to 2 minutes, or until white. Drain immediately and set aside in a serving bowl. You can toss with a tablespoon of the previously prepared fried garlic and oil to keep the noodles from sticking.
Bring another large pot of water to boil. Add 1/4 cube of Knorr chicken bouillon. Add 2 Tablespoons of the previously prepared fried garlic and oil. Add shrimp and cook for just a minute or two until white and pink. Be very careful not to over cook the shrimp. Drain and set aside.
Return to the tomato and pork mixture. Stir. Taste. Adjust seasonings to preference. After adding seasonings, stir, allow to simmer for another 5 minutes before tasting again.
Note: the seasoning stage is toughest. Depending on how sweet or sour the tomatoes are, more or less of the seasonings are required and it is very reliant on frequent tastings by the cook. Control flavor of dish with these: palm sugar adds sweet, tamarind adds our, fish sauce adds salty
Once the tomato and pork mixture is seasoned to taste, transfer to a large serving bowl or casserole. Place cooked shrimp across the top and generously sprinkle fresh chopped cilantro. Serve alongside cooked rice vermicelli. When plating, place a small pile of the rice vermicelli on the plate and top with generous spoonfuls of the nam prik ong and a couple of garnish shrimp.