| Nataing | |
| Alternate Name: | Khao Tang Na Tang |
| Country: | Cambodia or Thailand |
| Main Ingredient: | Ground pork, cloves, shallots, coconut milk, peanuts, fish sauce, rice cakes |
| Calories: | 450[1] |
| Protein: | 15 |
| Fat: | 39 |
| Carbohydrate: | 15 |
Nataing (km|ណាតាំង) or Khao Tang Na Tang (th|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.
It is one of Cambodian cuisine's most sophisticated and popular appetizers due to its many fragrant ingredients.[4]
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 (km|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]
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]