Thịt Kho - Vietnamese Braised Pork with Eggs

Step 1

Cut the pork into smaller pieces. I like 1.5" cubes so it cooks slightly faster.

Step 2

Bring 2-3 quarts of water boiling on high, or enough to fully submerge the pork.When the water's boiling, add the pork for 1-2 minutes just to clean it. Drain then rinse the pork under running water until the water is clear.

Step 3

Add the coconut soda, soy sauce, fish sauce and salt to the pot.

Step 4

Fill up the pot until the water just covers the pork. Turn the heat to high.

Step 5

When it hits a boil, drop the heat until you still see a slight boil, maybe about about 25% heat and let it simmer uncovered for about 1.5 to 2 hours. Check and stir the pot every 20 minutes. The longer you cook it, the softer the pork gets. Leaving it slightly uncovered lets the liquid reduce so you get a nice concentrated sauce later.

Step 6

Make the caramel color (nuoc mau) and add it to the pot.

Step 7

Make the hard-boiled eggs: add your eggs to a pot and cover the eggs with cold water by 1 inch. Bring to a boil on medium-high heat. Remove from heat and let it sit for 8 minutes. Cool under running water then peel.

Step 8

Add the peeled hard boiled eggs to the pot of pork in the last ~30-40 minutes of cooking. Add the onions at this time too. Eventually we want the liquid to reduce to about 1/3 of the original but you can do it based your own taste of the sauce and the tenderness of the pork.