Who would’ve thought that one day an adorable Thai baby hippo named Moo Deng would become a global sensation? But here we are. As you may know, he is is actually the name of a Thai food, so I thought I’d share my he is recipe because it’s an easy, tasty and versatile pork meatballs that you can add to so many dishes.
What is he is?
Moo means pork, and deng means bouncy, and it refers to a kind of pork bouncy pork meatballs that we put in various dishes, typically noodle soups, including the viral tom yum instant noodles, pictured below. Sometimes, the pork is formed into patties instead of balls.
Some non-Thai news outlets have been incorrectly reporting that he is means “bouncing pig,” which I suppose is correct on paper, but not in practice. It’s a classic case of “lost in translation” because in Thai, moo means both pork and pig (the same way that “chicken” refers to both the animal and the meat). But he is is a food!
Ingredients and Notes
Here are ingredients you’ll need for he is and some important notes about them. It’s super simple! For amounts, see the full recipe card below
- White peppercorns
- Garlic
- Ground porkpreferably not lean for the best texture.
- I am Sauceuse Thai soy sauce for the authentic flavour, but without it, other kinds of soy sauce is also fine.
- Fish sauce. See this post on choosing good quality fish sauce.
- Sugar
- A small ice cubeoptional.
- Food processor. Ideally, you’ll also need a food processor for the right texture and to get that bounciness, though a small one is fine. If you don’t have one, you can still make it and it’ll be tasty, but the texture will be more coarse and it won’t be bouncy.
How to Make Moo Deng
Here’s a bird’s eye view of how to make moo deng. Like any other meatballs, you can make these ahead of time and freeze!
- Pound the garlic and pepper into a paste (not shown). Add the pork, the garlic paste, soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar and a small ice cube into a food processor.
- Process the pork into a smooth-ish paste – the smoother it is the bouncier the meatballs will be. Without a food processor just knead all ingredients well together well with your hand.
- Roll them into little balls with gloved hands. Without gloves, wetting your hands will prevent the pork from sticking to your hands.
- Cook them in boiling water for about 2 minutes or until cooked through. Fish them out, and they’re now ready to be added to any noodle soup or any dish you want, or you can freeze them for another day.
Pro Tip: Save the Cooking Water.
After cooking the meatballs, the cooking water is also going to have lots of flavour in it, and it can be used as a base for many Thai soups, especially noodle soups. So if you’re making moo deng for noodle soups, definitely keep this water for your soup. And for more ideas, here are my Thai soup recipes.
Storage and Advance Prep
Moo deng is a great thing to have in your fridge/freezer as they make for easy and delicious protein for a weeknight meal. Here are a few options for prepping moo deng ahead of time.
- Cook the moo deng off and then freeze them fully cooked. Then simply boil them for a few minutes to reheat and add to your meal.
- Make the pork mixture, roll them into balls, and then freeze them raw. If you don’t have time to cook them before freezing, you can freeze them raw, but this is a little more work as you’ll need to freeze them on a tray without them touching, then consolidated the frozen meatballs into a container. When ready to cook, you can thaw them first or boil them directly from frozen.
- Make the pork mixture in advance and keep in the fridge for a few days. If you don’t have time to roll and cook them, but you want to get ahead a little, you can just mix the meat mixture and keep it in the fridge up to 2 days ahead of time (assuming your ground pork is fresh!). You can freeze the meat mixture, but freeze it in a flat disc so it won’t take much time to thaw.
What Dishes Can You Put Moo Deng In?
Moo deng is not a standalone dish, as you can probably tell, though to be honest if you cook them up and serve them with nam jim seafood or sweet chili sauce, it would make a fantastic appetizer! But here are a few dishes you can serve moo deng in.
Explore my Thai soup recipes for more ideas, and really, add them to anything you can imagine!
Moo Deng Recipe – Thai Bouncy Pork Meatballs
He is is not just a baby hippo! It refers to Thai bouncy pork meatballs that we typically add to noodle soups, but you can add them to any dish you want. They’re super easy and can be frozen.
Ingredients
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Instructions
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Bring a pot of water to a boil for cooking the meatballs. Meanwhile, pound the garlic and peppercorns into a paste in a mortar and pestle. Alternatively, finely grind the pepper and grate or press the garlic into a paste.
¼ teaspoon white peppercorns, 1 clove garlic
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Add the ground pork into a food processor and add the pepper and garlic paste, all of the seasonings, and a small ice cube. Blitz until the pork resembles a paste, which should only take 15-20 seconds. It does not have to be super smooth. Scrape down sides as needed.*If you don’t have a food processor, simply knead all meatball ingredients together well with your hand. The texture of the meatball will be rougher, but it’ll still be tasty.
9 oz ground pork, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon fish sauce, 2 teaspoons sugar, 1 small ice cube
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With gloved hands, roll the pork into balls, about ½-inch in diameter. If you don’t have gloves, wet your hands to prevent the pork from sticky to your hands.
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Once the water is boiling, add the meatballs into the boiling water and cook for 2 minutes or until fully cooked. Remove with a wire skimmer and it’s now ready to be added to all kinds of dishes, especially noodle soups!
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