🍢 SNACK
Mu Ping (Thai Grilled Pork Skewers)
Thin slices of pork marinated in pounded garlic, coriander root and white pepper with palm sugar, fish sauce and coconut milk, grilled over charcoal and eaten with sticky rice.
Thai · easy · serves 4
prep 30 min · cook 15 min · plus 2 h hands-off time
~703 cal · 47g protein · 54g carbs · 33g fat · 2g fiber · 7g sugars · 14g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Mu ping, grilled pork, is the smell of a Bangkok morning. Street vendors light their charcoal before dawn and grill trays of skewers of thin, sweet, glossy pork for people on their way to work, who buy three sticks and a little bag of sticky rice and eat as they walk. It became a street staple in the 1950s, when food carts were redesigned for vendors, and it is still eaten from breakfast into the afternoon.
The marinade is built on the classic Thai paste of garlic, coriander root and white pepper, pounded in a mortar, mixed with palm sugar, , soy sauce and . The pork, usually fatty shoulder or neck, is sliced thin so the marinade soaks right in, then threaded tightly onto bamboo sticks.
It is grilled over medium coals and brushed with as it cooks, which keeps it juicy and gives it its lacquered, lightly charred edges. The sugar in the marinade caramelises quickly, so the vendor never stops turning.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy- and egg-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
- 600 g pork shoulder or neck, sliced about 3 mm thick into strips 3 cm wide
- 5 cloves garlic
- 3 coriander roots, scraped, or 2 tbsp chopped coriander stems
- 1/2 tsp white peppercorns
- 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
- 2 tbsp palm sugar, shaved
- 1.5 tbsp
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp Thai dark (black) soy sauce
- 1/2 cup , about a third for the marinade, the rest for basting
- 1 tbsp tapioca starch
- 1 tbsp
- 12 bamboo skewers
- 3 cups cooked steamed sticky rice, to serve
Instructions
- 1Pound the garlic, coriander roots, peppercorns and coriander seeds in a mortar to a rough paste.
- 2In a bowl, mix the paste with the palm sugar, fish sauce, both soy sauces, about a third of the coconut milk, the tapioca starch and the oil until the sugar dissolves. Add the pork and massage the marinade in well.
- 3Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight for the best flavour. Soak the bamboo skewers in water for 30 minutes before grilling.
- 4Thread the pork onto the skewers, folding each slice back and forth and pushing the pieces tightly together.✎ Chef’s notePack the meat tight with a little fat between the pieces. Loose skewers dry out on the grill.
- 5Grill over medium charcoal or on a hot griddle for 3 to 4 minutes a side, turning often and brushing with the remaining coconut milk after the first turn, until cooked through, glossy and charred at the edges. Serve hot with sticky rice.✎ Chef’s noteThe sugar in the marinade burns quickly over fierce heat. Medium coals and constant turning give the lacquered finish without black patches.
Bangkok street-vendor tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Bangkok (Central). Boat noodles are named for where they were sold, from small craft working the canals, and the bowls are small because a vendor rocking on the water could not fill a large one without spilling it. The broth is dark and thick with pork or beef blood, and eating four or five bowls in a sitting is normal rather than greedy.
🗺️
Thailand. Thai cooking chases the balance of sweet, sour, salty, spicy, and bitter in every dish, from fragrant coconut curries to fiery som tam salads and stir-fries fired in a screaming-hot wok. Fish sauce, lime, chili, and fresh herbs give it its unmistakable brightness.
🌍
Asia. A grain line runs across the continent. Rice dominates the wet south and east, wheat the drier north and west, and the tools follow it: the wok and the steamer where rice is milled, the tandoor and the griddle where wheat is ground. Tea travels the other way, drunk green, black, salted, buttered or with milk depending how far it got from China.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
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Good to know
You’ll need: Griddle or flat pan, Grill or barbecue, Mortar and pestle.
Storing it: Best straight off the heat. Leftovers keep 2 to 3 days refrigerated and reheat well in a hot oven rather than the microwave.
Make it a Thailand meal
Thai Iced TeaDrink
Mango Sticky RiceDessert
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Mu Ping (Thai Grilled Pork Skewers)?
Thin slices of pork marinated in pounded garlic, coriander root and white pepper with palm sugar, fish sauce and coconut milk, grilled over charcoal and eaten with sticky rice.
Where does Mu Ping (Thai Grilled Pork Skewers) come from?
Mu Ping (Thai Grilled Pork Skewers) is a Thai dish from Bangkok (Central), Thailand.
Can Mu Ping (Thai Grilled Pork Skewers) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Mu Ping (Thai Grilled Pork Skewers) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Mu Ping (Thai Grilled Pork Skewers) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Mu Ping (Thai Grilled Pork Skewers) take to make?
About 2 h 45 min in all: 30 minutes prep and 15 minutes cooking, plus 2 h of hands-off waiting the method needs, serving 4.
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