Pork with axone
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Pork cooked with axone (fermented soybean), whose strong smell and deep taste mark Naga cooking.
Region: NagalandOccasion: Everyday meal; feastsTime: 1 hourServes: 4Non-vegetarian
Ingredients
- 500 g pork with fat, in pieces
- 3 tbsp axone (fermented soybean paste or cakes, soaked)
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- 1–2 king chillies or 4 green chillies
- 2 inch ginger, crushed
- 6 garlic cloves, crushed
- A handful of mustard or other leafy greens (optional)
- Salt to taste
Method
- Put the pork with salt and 1½ cups water in a pot and cook for 25 minutes until half done and the fat has rendered.
- Grind or mash the axone with the chillies, ginger and garlic.
- Add the tomatoes to the pork and cook until soft.
- Stir in the axone paste and cook for 15 minutes on low heat until the pork is tender.
- Add the greens, if using, for the last 3–4 minutes. Serve hot with rice.
History
Axone is made by boiling soybeans and leaving them to ferment, wrapped in leaves, near the fireplace; it is especially linked with the Sumi Naga community.
Significance
Axone is one of the key flavours of Naga cooking and is used in meat, vegetable and chutney dishes in many homes.