Sticky Rice and Pork

Ingredients

2 cups rice

200g pork loin

bamboo skewers

4 garlic cloves, peeled

3 coriander (cilantro) roots, washed 

½ tsp coriander seeds

½ tsp white peppercorns

2 tbsp palm sugar, finely shaved

2 tbsp fish sauce

3 tsp Thai black soy sauce or kecap manis

2 tsp vegetable oil

½ tsp salt

2 tsp cornflour (cornstarch)

¼ cup coconut milk, plus extra for basting

Instructions

• For the sticky rice, you’ll need to soak it the night before. Add the raw rice grains to a large bowl, then cover with plenty of water. Set aside to soak overnight.
• The next day, drain the soaked rice into a sieve or colander. To cook the rice, you can just use a normal bamboo steamer set over a pan. Line the steamer basket with a very thin cloth, like a cheesecloth or thin tea towel. Transfer the drained rice to the lined basket, then fold the cloth over the rice to completely cover and envelope it. Pop a saucepan lid on the top for some extra coverage, and then steam for 10 minutes.
• Carefully give the basket a shake or open the cloth and flip the rice with a spatula, before re-covering with the cloth. Replace the lid and steam for a further 10 minutes.
• Remove the cloth bundle from your steamer and very carefully as it will be hot (you may want to use tongs) tip the rice out on a large tray. Use a wooden spoon to spread the sticky rice out on the tray into an even layer to help prevent it from clumping.  
• For the pork skewers, start by cutting the pork loin into very thin slices.
• To make the marinade, add the garlic cloves, coriander roots, coriander seeds and peppercorns to a mortar. Use a pestle to pound the ingredients into a rough paste. Transfer to the pork loin, followed by the palm sugar, fish sauce, Thai black soy sauce or kecap manis, vegetable oil, salt, cornflour and coconut milk. Using clean hands, mix everything together until the palm sugar has dissolved into the marinade and the meat is evenly coated. Set aside for 1 hour to allow all the flavours to make friends with one another.
• In the meantime, soak your bamboo skewers in water to prevent them from burning on the grill later. Once your pork has marinated, add the slices to the skewers.
• Cook the skewers for around 2-3 minutes on one side until you’ve got some nice colour, then flip and baste with some coconut milk. Cook for another 2–3 minutes or until the pork is cooked through and everything is looking nice and golden brown. Serve with the sticky rice.