250px, Mu ping in Bangkok ''Mu ping'' ( th, หมูปิ้ง, , ) is a portion of street food in Thailand. It gained popularity in 1952, when food transport carts were redesigned and turned into street vendor carts. Mu ping can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Mu ping is a common food to find in the streets of Thailand that usually start to sell around 5 am–11 am. Mu Ping is eaten with sticky rice. The set of the meal comes as three skewers of Mu Ping and a package sticky rice. The price per stick is around 5 - 10 Baht depending on pork prices.

Ingredients

The ingredients needed to cook Mu ping are: * ''Pork'': The main meat of the dish. * '' Coriander roots'': Used to increase aroma and reduce meat odors. * ''

Black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, known as a peppercorn, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diame ...

'': Used to add the mild spiciness to the dish. * ''

Garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus ''Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Allium fistulosum, Welsh onion and Allium chinense, Chinese onion. It is native to South A ...

'': Used to add sweetness and spiciness to the dish, also enhance aroma. * '' Fish sauce'': Used to add saltiness to the dish. * ''

Palm sugar Palm sugar is a sweetener derived from any variety of palm tree. Palm sugar is sometimes qualified by the type of palm, as in coconut palm sugar. While sugars from different palms may have slightly different compositions, all are processed s ...

'': Used to add sweetness to the diss. * ''

Soy sauce Soy sauce (also called simply soy in American English and soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermented paste of soybeans, roasted grain, brine, and '' Aspergillus oryzae'' or ''Asp ...

'': Used as the main

marinades Marinating is the process of soaking foods in a seasoned, often acidic, liquid before cooking. The origin of the word alludes to the use of brine (''aqua marina'' or sea water) in the pickling process, which led to the technique of adding flav ...

for Mu ping Boran. * ''

Milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. Immune factors and immune ...

'': Used as the main

for Mu ping nom sod. Some Mu Ping variations use coconut milk in the marinade to give meat an extra creamy and rich flavor

Preparation

There are 2 types of Mu ping currently in the market. Milk Grilled and Mu ping Boran. It can be found depending on the area but as of today, Milk Grilled is easier to find due to low cost and being more flavored.

Thai-style (Mu ping Boran)

This is the original type of Mu ping. It's purely red meat with fat on the bottom of the skewer or with no fat. The pork is marinated in the mixture of

coriander Coriander (;

roots,

black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, known as a peppercorn, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diame ...

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus ''Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Allium fistulosum, Welsh onion and Allium chinense, Chinese onion. It is native to South A ...

, and

soy sauce Soy sauce (also called simply soy in American English and soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermented paste of soybeans, roasted grain, brine, and '' Aspergillus oryzae'' or ''Asp ...

as the main marinade. Fish sauce and sugar can be added up to the preferences. The marinating process takes around 20 minutes. Then grilled over a charcoal

BBQ Barbecue or barbeque (informally BBQ in the UK, US, and Canada, barbie in Australia and braai in South Africa) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that use live fire and smoke t ...

. This type of Mu ping is harder to find since the cost is higher because it is wholly pork with no other ingredients and the size is a lot smaller than Milk-grilled Mu ping.

Milk-Grilled (Mu ping nom sod)

This type of Mu ping is very common in the street. The pork is also marinated in the mixture of

coriander Coriander (;

roots,

, and milk as the main marinade instead. Fish sauce and sugar can be added up to the preferences. The milk is what caused the meat to be more tender and flavorful. The marinating process takes around 20 minutes. Then also grilled over a charcoal

. Anyone can start selling Milk-Grilled Mu ping as the premade are sold at supermarkets or shopping malls. Customers can find more flavors to choose from depending on the seller. Both types of Mu ping are usually served with

sticky rice Glutinous rice (''Oryza sativa var. glutinosa''; also called sticky rice, sweet rice or waxy rice) is a type of rice grown mainly in Southeast and East Asia, and the northeastern regions of South Asia, which has opaque grains, very low amylose ...

and sometimes Nam chim Chaeo. Which is a spicy sauce that complements grilled meat.

Nutrition

The nutrition gets from 1 skewer containing:

Protein

Containing amino acids, high-protein foods make you feel full. Thus, making it possible to consume food in reduced amounts in the long run. body weight will gradually decrease as well but consumers need to control carbohydrate intake properly.

Phosphorus

Phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Ear ...

can help promote healthy gums and teeth and helps in the growth repair of the worn parts of the body. It also helps relieve pain from arthritis and contributes to the process of fat and starch metabolism. Which makes the body more energetic.

Vitamin B1

Thiamine Thiamine, also known as thiamin and vitamin B1, is a vitamin, an essential micronutrient, that cannot be made in the body. It is found in food and commercially synthesized to be a dietary supplement or medication. Phosphorylated forms of thi ...

or known as Vitamin B1 has the benefits of strengthening growth, digesting starchy foods as well maintain the nervous system, muscles, and heart to function normally.

Health

Mu ping is grilled meat, it has a group of chemicals called Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) that are also linked to

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

s. PAHs are produced during pyrolysis and incomplete burning of organic materials such as wood, coal, and oil. It will form when the meat juices drip onto the coals or other heating surfaces and flare up in flames and smoke. The grill rack used in the stove often has burned-up pieces that are stuck on the grill. Common grilling methods (using either charcoal or gas fuel) could produce PAHs in food and contamination has been reported in different food products such as cereals, vegetables, fruits, dairy products, oils, coffee, tea, and meat products. In comparison to gas grilling, charcoal grilling led to significantly higher contents of PAHs in all types of Skewer, which could be the result of incomplete charcoal burning.

References

{{Thai food Thai cuisine Street food in Thailand