Sticky Vietnames Pork Belly

A traditional vietnamese dish called "Thit kho". It's sweet and caramelised flavours make this dish easy to eat especially for the little fussy ones. We recommend sourcing out a pork belly cut that has a good balance of lean and fat. Although having a bit more fat could give it more juice and flavour, just as for any stews. What we love about this dish is how tender the pork is after boiling for an hour. You can choose to add some carrots or green beans to the recipe below.

Ingredients

500g boneless pork belly

50 gwhite sugar

1 litre young coconut water

60 ml(¼ cup) fish sauce

3 spring onions (scallions), white part only,

bashed pinch of salt

½ tsp finely ground white pepper

3red bird’s eye chillies

whole 4 nasturtium leaves to garnish

pickled vegetables and steamed rice or crisp baguette, to serve

Instructions

  1. Cut the pork belly into pieces of about 2-4cm in thickness and set aside.
  2. To make the caramel, add the sugar and 2 tablespoons of water in a large saucepan over high heat. Simmer until a dark but not burnt caramel forms, then carefully add the pork pieces to the pan.
  3. Stir to coat the pork in the caramel, followed by adding the young coconut water to the mixture.
  4. Slowly bring to the boil, skimming off any fat and impurities that rise to the surface.
  5. Lower heat, then add the fish sauce, spring onions, salt and pepper. Simmer for 1½ hours or until the pork is very tender.
  6. Add the chillies in the last 5 minutes of cooking. (optional)
  7. Transfer to a serving plate, then garnish with nasturtium leaves and serve with pickled vegetables and steamed rice or baguette.
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