Do you ever wonder why you always seem to find spicy food in countries with tropical, hot weather?
Well, eating spicy food will stimulate circulation and raise your body temperature.
When you live in a hot climate, the increase in body temperature will diminish the difference between you and the air around you by making you sweat and thus cooling you down, according to the NY Times.
Makes sense to me!
Here’s a spicy Thai Pork & Veggie dish that will cool you down and infuse you with lovely exotic flavours:
This is a light, zesty & spicy bowl of comfort that’s perfect for a hot summer’s eve!
If you have little ones, just tone down the spiciness for them, or cook some of the meat separately with just a tiny bit of chili.
{I tend to put a bit of chili in most dishes, just enough to enhance the flavour and add to the health benefits, but not so much that it’s too spicy for the kids.}
[recipe title=”Thai Pork” servings=”6″ time=”1hr” difficulty=”easy”]
You will need:
3-4 cloves of garlic
2 red chilies
1 lemongrass stalk
1 large piece of ginger {roughly the size of 2 thumbs}
1 tsp salt
2 tbs sesame oil
800 g pork, cubed
1 small head of broccoli
3 medium zucchini
3 tbs coconut oil
3 tbs coconut cream
spring onion to garnish
Start by making the marinade for the pork:
Crush the garlic and finely chop the chilies.
Cut the lemongrass in slices and then pound it as fine as you can, using a mortar & pestle.
{TOP TIP: By making the lemongrass into an almost-paste, you don’t need to remove it from the dish before eating, as lemongrass is very woody and hard.}
Finely grate the ginger and mix with the garlic and lemongrass.
{TOP TIP: Store your ginger in the freezer – it keeps longer this way and makes it easy to grate.}
Add the sesame oil and properly coat the meat.
Season with salt and let it all marinade for half an hour at least.
{TOP TIP: The longer it marinates, the more the flavours will infuse.}
While the pork is marinating, prep the veggies:
Cut the zucchini in half and then again in 6, to give you thin ‘fingers’.
Cut the broccoli into bite-sized florets.
Cook the veggies for 3 minutes and then immediately plunge into cold water to retain crispness.
Heat a tablespoon of coconut oil in a large pot or pan and flash-fry the veggies for a minute or 2 and set aside.
Add another 2 tbs of coconut oil to the now empty pan and fry the pork until it’s cooked, golden and somewhat crispy.
Make sure you add everything from the marinade – fry it all together!
Serve the pork, along with all the juices, on the bed of veggies and garnish with spring onion.
I truly love chilies – it’s probably my favourite spice of all!
Some more reasons {apart from the taste} to love chilies:
- It reduces bad cholesterol
- It’s rich in Vit. A, which is an anti oxidant
- It’s rich in Vit. C, which boosts immunity
- It’s rich in B-complex vitamins
- It’s rich in minerals such as iron, magnesium & potassium
So, while we suffer through this current heatwave in SA, whip up a batch of this delicious Thai Pork & Veggie dish and just chill ;)
FYI: Raising your body temperature just before bedtime also helps induce sleep…
Honest mum
October 20, 2015 at 7:59 pmOh yummy! Love Paleo dishes! Thanks for linking up to #tastytuesdays x
Corina
October 22, 2015 at 7:06 amIT sounds so delicious – exactly the type of food I love. Thanks for the tip about putting ginger in the freezer as I often find little bits that have gone soft at the bottom of the fridge whenever I clear it out!