Nataing

Nataing (Khmer: ណាតាំង) or Khao Tang Na Tang (Thai: ข้าวตังหน้าตั้ง) is a Cambodian and Thai^[2][3] style red pork curry dip. It is a creamy ground pork dish cooked in coconut milk, often served with rice cakes.

Nataing

Nataing with rice crackers
Alternative names	Khao Tang Na Tang
Place of origin	Cambodia or Thailand
Main ingredients	Ground pork, cloves, shallots, coconut milk, peanuts, fish sauce, rice cakes
Food energy (per serving)	450[1] kcal (1,900 kJ)
Nutritional value (per serving)	Protein 15[1] g Fat 39[1] g Carbohydrate 15[1] g
Media: Nataing

It is one of Cambodian cuisine's most sophisticated and popular appetizers due to its many fragrant ingredients.^[4]

Origin

It is often considered to be either a royal Khmer or royal Thai dish and is claimed by both Cambodia and Thailand. In Cambodia, nataing is believed to have ultimately originated from the countryside as a way to eat rice crust (Khmer: បាយកាដាង, bai kdaing) from rice stuck on the bottom of the cooking pot or rice crackers made from flattened and sun-dried leftover rice.^[5]

Variations

Longteine De Monteiro's 1998 The Elephant Walk Cookbook alternatively suggests serving the dip on slices of quickly fried baguette or pairing nataing with pickled vegetables or other acidic side dishes.^[6] A variation of nataing favored by the Khmer royalty uses chicken meat that has been finely strained before cooking. An even more extravagant version incorporates lobster as the main ingredient.^[2]

In a vegan variation of nataing, ground pork is substituted with tofu or seitan and fish sauce is replaced with light soy sauce.^[1]