Traditional Thịt Kho

Xin chào mọi người! It’s about time I introduce you guys to a bit of my culture, and what better way than with food? Today, I’m sharing a recipe for Vietnamese Thịt Kho Trứng - braised pork with eggs. I made a video as well, that you can check out:

This is a dish my family makes pretty much all the time because it’s so simple and delicious. It brings such a comforting, homey vibe to the table. It’s one of my favourite dishes that brings a lot of memories. If you ask any Vietnamese person, they’ll probably tell you the same - it’s such a classic and popular dish enjoyed all year round.

This dish is basically caramelised pork belly and boiled eggs, simmered in a savoury-sweet broth until everything is infused with the rich flavours of fish sauce. Usually, it’s made in bigger batches, but the recipe I’m sharing today is enough for 2-3 people to have. Recipes on this dish may vary depending on families and regions, but this is how my family does it. Let’s get started!

Ingredients

• 500g pork belly
• 4 - 6 eggs
• 2 onions
• 2 knobs of ginger
• 2 spring onions or 1 onion
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 cup of warm water (or more)
• 3 tbsp fish sauce
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce (optional)
• Salt & pepper
• 2 tsp chicken powder

Cooking time: 1.5-2 hours (I know it’s long but it’s worth it! Plus it’s mostly simmering)

Method

Step 1: Cut your spring onion into 3 parts and ginger into slices. The shape doesn’t really matter, we’re only cutting it up so we can put it in the pot to boil with the pork bellies. This is so we can get off the scum on the pork belly.

Step 2: While boiling your meat, start dicing up your onions and slice your ginger and set aside.

Once your pot with meat starts boiling, take it off the heat and rinse your meat. Don’t worry about the meat not being cooked at this stage, we’re only washing it for now to get rid of smell and stuff from the pork. Put the meat on a cutting board.

Step 3: Boil a pot of water and start boiling your eggs.

Go back to your meat and cut it into cube shapes around 3-4 cm each. Put them in a box/bowl add chicken powder, oyster sauce (optional but add fish sauce instead if you don’t have it), pepper (go with your guts) and mix. Set aside while you’re cooking your eggs.

After 10 minutes of boiling your eggs, take them out and put them in a cold ice water to let them cool before peeling.

Step 4: Here comes the hard part (personally, I think it’s hard) - we have to caramelise our sugar. In a clean pot, over high heat, add sugar. Don’t stir it, instead just swirl the pot around to avoid burning the sugar.

Once it reaches this rich brown colour (refer to pic) put your cup of water in - make sure your water is warm or hot! and be super careful with this step, it will sizzle and bubble loudly!

Once you’re done with this step though, it’s all cool. Add your onions, garlic, meat, soy sauce, salt (few pinches) and fish sauce. If the water/sauce is not up the same level as the amount of meat you have, add more water until it reaches the meat. Stir around and put the lid on.

Step 5: Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce to medium-low heat and let it simmer. Simmer for about 1 hour, allowing the flavours to blend and deepen. If you’re short on time, 30 minutes works, but it’s not going to be as tender, and darker colour.

In the last 20 minutes of simmering, add your eggs. Make sure to flip it every now and then so the sauce can coat the whole egg.

Serve with steamed rice!

I really hope someone tries this and tags us because it would mean a lot to me. I hope you enjoy the warmth of this classic Vietnamese dish :)

Chúc ngon miệng! (Enjoy your meal!)