Carmelized Pork With Eggs Braised In Coconut Juice- “Thit Kho”

Chuc Muc Mung Nam Moi or AKA Happy New Year in Vietnamese. It's important for me to learn a little more about our heritage and culture. There's a few dishes that are must haves to bring in the new year like Thit Kho and pickled bean sprouts (Dua Gia: see recipe -here-) and pickled mustard greens (Dua Chua: see recipe -here-). 

Thit Kho- also known as carmelized pork with eggs braised in coconut juice is a traditional Tet (Lunar New Year in Vietnamese) dish in our culture but it's also a popular Vietnamese dish year round. This savory dish is typically served with a side of jasmine rice and pickled vegetables like pickled Bean Sprouts. The nice acidic bean sprouts compliments the juicy fatty carmelized pork belly! This has always been one of my childhood favorites. It's delicate yet so rich in flavor. Pork belly is high in fat which adds that extra savory richness to the broth. When cooked correctly the pork belly should basically melt in your mouth. The key to this is also the slight coconut sweetness to this dish, the Coco Rica soda is the secret ingredient to this recipe. My parents only used that particular brand/coconut soda and boy does it bring me back!

PS- If you're not a huge fan of fat content, you can cut back on the pork belly and replace more with the combination of pork neck or leg with some skin and fat removed but I would keep some for the flavor. If you like more flavor spice you can add anise and ginger as well but my dad’s recipe is delicious still without it.

I made these last night, and kept the eggs and pork separate in the liquids so the eggs could marinate overnight in the fridge in the dark liquid, I also kept the pork in a separate container with remaining liquids to heat up today! The house smells so fragrant and I feel like I'm at home at my parents house.

PORK MARINADE INGREDIENTS
1/2 tablespoon of fish sauce
3 tbs dark soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon of mushroom seasoning
1/2 tbs cooking oil (vegetable)

1/2 tsp black pepper
1 garlic cloves minced (1 tsp)
1 tsp black pepper

BRAISING INGREDIENTS
1/2 - 1 tbsp coconut oil
3 tbs light brown sugar
2 garlic cloves smashed
1 shallot finely sliced/minced
1 tsp black pepper

1 can coco Rico (lighter coconut taste)
9 hard boiled eggs, peeled
1/2 tbsp fish sauce
3 tbs light soy sauce (up to 1/4 cup if need saltier)
1/2 tsp salt
2+ cups of water
1 Star anise (optional)
1 Knob of ginger (thinly sliced, optional)

GARNISH INGREDIENTS
Scallions
Cilantro
Thai red chili peppers


PREPARATION

1. Eggs: Boil 6-9 eggs or whatever you think will fit into your pot (a nice 7 minute boiled egg is perfect so it won't over cook with the pork). Put eggs in an ice bath and peel and rinse under warm water to remove any shell pieces and set aside.
2. Cut your pork belly into 1-2 inch pieces.
3. Parboil pork to get a cleaner looking stew by bringing a large pot of water on the stove to a boil. Add the pork to the boiling water and parboil for about 2-3 minutes (at this point you should see a bunch of gritty bubbles to the top).
4. Remove from heat. Drain & rinse pork belly.
5. Marinade pork with fish sauce, cooking oil, mushroom seasoning, garlic, black pepper and soy sauce
6. Let pork marinade in the fridge for 2-4 hours (overnight in fridge is best).
7. In a large saucepan, heat 1 tbsp coconut oil until glossy over medium heat. Swirl and mix the mixture until sugar has melted and turned a dark caramel color (This should take between 1.5-2 min but be careful not to BURN the sugar, lower heat to low or remove from heat if the caramel starts to really smoke)

• If your caramel burns or you smell a really burnt sugar smell, start over and do not use the burnt caramel) then add ginger (and ginger if you opt to use ginger) and add pork and cook for 2-3 minutes on medium/high heat or until the pork has nicely browned.

8. Return heat to medium and add 1 can of coco rico, and enough water to cover just about half of the pork in the pot and add remaining ingredients: soy sauce, salt (and star anise if you use)... Bring to boil with lid off and then turn down stove to low/med setting for a nice simmer (keeping lid on for about an hour and a half, stir pot every 15-20 min and remove any scum to top). Add a little water to prevent burning of the pork.
9. After 1.5-2 hours the pork belly should be tender, pork belly skin should also be very soft and tender (not chewy and I like it when it basically melts in your mouth) and the eggs should turn in color. If it hasn't reached this tender point yet, keep pot on low simmer (without lid) until you have a tender/soft pork belly and skin and so the sauce thickens up some.
10. Scoop off a majority of the pork fat on top of the stew (its a layer of very clear water on top of the darker brown stew water below)
11. After 1 hour, then add eggs add to pork pot, let simmer for another 1/2 hour to hour, serve hot
12. In last 5 minutes of cooking, add red thai chili peppers (whole).

*I made this the night prior and put all the eggs in a large jar with the liquids to cover the eggs, I also put in a separate Tupperware the pork with remaining liquids to boil the next day.