Vietnamese Caramelised Pork
I first had this dish in Hội An, Vietnam. I was upstairs in a restaurant, sat on a balcony, that overlooked the river. The view was beautiful and the cold beer and colourful lights made for a perfect evening. I had no idea what "clay pot pork" was going to be but it sounded worth a shot. I was not wrong!
In the years since then this is the closest I have come to recreating that moment. Intensely sweet, spicy and salty this dish is very more-ish and has a method of cooking unlike anything else I have seen before.
Open in Cookpad AppCooking Instructions
- 1
Chop the pork into 1" chunks and add it to a large bowl.
- 2
Slice the spring onion and add it to the bowl.
- 3
Finely chop two red chilis and add to the bowl.
- 4
Peel and grate the fresh root ginger and add it to the bowl.
TIP: A teaspoon makes an excellent peeler for getting the skin off the ginger.
- 5
Add 1 tablespoon of black pepper and 5 tablespoons of fish sauce.
- 6
Mix well and leave the mixture to marinade in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
- 7
Add 8 tablespoons of sugar to a large saucepan and place on a medium heat. After a few minutes you should notice the sugar start to melt. When it first starts to melt it will be a clear liquid but will quickly go brown. The challenge is to get all of the sugar to melt before the bit that melted first starts to burn. If it smells burnt or starts to smoke its better to start again that carry on regardless. Stirring may help but sometimes a quick shake of the pan will do the trick.
- 8
Once all the sugar has melted and is a golden brown colour carefully add the water. This is usually fairly spectacular as the pan is very hot. Expect steam, obscure sugar sculptures rising out of the pan and frantically boiling water.
- 9
Once all the caramel has dissolved you should have a very runny, sweet brown syrup. Bring this to the boil and then add the marinated pork mix.
- 10
Bring the pan back to the boil and stir well. Then reduce the heat and leave to simmer for at least an hour.
- 11
Once most of the liquid has evaporated and the pork is tender and sticky we are ready to serve! Goes great with rice and stir-fried greens.
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