Suon Sot Ca Chua- Vietnamese Pork Chops Braised With Tomatoes

Dad’s Vietnamese pork chops with tomatoes using a Shanzu Knife.

Preserving recipes & stories- Dad’s super savory Vietnamese braised pork chops with tomatoes.

A little story time- This dish was taught and passed on to my father by his mother in the 1960’s and would follow my dad through University.

While in University my dad made this dish quite a few times for his group of friends that decided cafeteria food wasn’t for them. Each week my dad and his friends would pitch in money for dinner.

One person was in charge of buying everything, another would help prep, make rice, set the table, and someone had clean up duty. My dad was of course was the chef, the one that created the menu and cooked each night 😜.

This is a dish I’ve never seen my father make until now. And, though I never knew my grandmother- I love that I now have a piece of her culinary legacy to live on. ❤️

Tips: An extra step my dad sometimes does is to caramelize some sugar (about a tbs or two) then add pork chops to pan for a more darker/caramelized pork chop.

INGREDIENTS

2 lbs center cut pork chops (thin cuts, the thicker the chewier the pork chops can possibly be, about 3/8” is best)

4 ripe vine tomatoes (rinsed, chopped/diced)

5 garlic cloves (smashed, and minced)

2 tsp fish sauce

1 tsp sugar

~1/2 tsp sea salt or pink salt

~1/2 tsp onion powder

~1/2 tsp garlic powder

~1 tsp vegetable powder

1-2 tsp fish sauce

1/2 tsp sugar

1 cup water

1/2 medium sweet or white onion (sliced thin)

1 medium shallot onion (sliced thin)

2 tbs teaseed oil (or light olive oil)

4 tbs teaseed oil (or light olive oil)

PREPARATION

1. Rinse pork chop with salt and vinegar in a bowl. About 1/4 cup vinegar and 1 tbs salt, scrub then rinse and pat dry.

2. Sprinkle sugar, salt, onion powder and garlic powder over both sides of all the pork chops. Then brush on some fish sauce on top of the pork chops (alternately, you can premix all the powders and fish sauce and make a marinade for the pork chops).

3. Marinade for about 20-30 min at room temp.

4. Heat about 2 tbs of oil in a pan. Add pork chops over low-medium heat for a couple minutes then flip.

5. Heat 3-4 tbs of oil over med-high heat, then add shallots until fragrant. Then add garlic until a little soft.

6. Add onions, tomatoes, and sauté over medium heat.

7. Mix in 1 cup of water, 1-2 tsp fish sauce, 1 tsp vegetable powder, 1/2 tsp of sugar and let pork chops braise with lid on until cooked through and when pork chops are soft enough that a chopstick can easily puncture the pork chops.

8. Taste braising liquid (add more water, salt, fish sauce, or sugar as needed).