Thit Kho Trung (Vietnamese Braised Pork with Eggs)

This is real Vietnamese comfort food! Most Vietnamese households will have a recipe for Thit Kho Trung. This succulent pork dish beloved by adults and children alike!

Thit Kho Trung is a Vietnamese dish made of braised pork and boiled eggs. The pork is cut into cubes that are braised in fish sauce, sugar, garlic, and coconut water, then garnished with black pepper. It is commonly eaten for Vietnamese New Lunar New Year (Tet). The eggs symbolize happiness and goodness. The pork and hard boiled eggs are cooked in pot for a few hours and are served with rice and pickled vegetables.

This was one my favorite foods to eat when I was a little kid. My dad would love to make it for him and me. He would make a little pot of it and we would eat a bowl of succulent pork and eggs. I loved how soft the pork was and slurped up the caramelized sauce with rice. When I was older, I toyed around with different recipes to get it just right. There have definitely been some blunders. (One time I burned a pot trying to make the caramel sauce.) I believe that this recipe has been the most successful. I hope you like it. Please enjoy!

Thit Kho Trung (Vietnamese Braised Pork with Eggs) Recipe

Yields 4 servings

Specialty Tool: Pot with tightfitting lid

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 60 minutes

Beer Paring Suggestion: Lager

Ingredients

1 lb pork belly with fat, cut into cubes

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 clove garlic, minced

4 teaspoons fish sauce

6 ounces coconut soda/coconut water

freshly ground black pepper

4 hard boiled eggs, peeled

Serve with: Rice and pickled vegetables.

Directions

Heat the sugar in a medium sized pot on medium heat until it melts and caramelizes into a light brown syrup, about 5 minutes.

Add the pork to the pot and increase the heat to high. Cook and stir to render some of the pork fat, 3 to 5 minutes.

Throw in the garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add the fish sauce and some black pepper.

Pour in the coconut soda/coconut water and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to low and simmer. Place the lid on the pot and simmer until the pork is tender, about 60 minutes. Add the eggs to the pot in the last 15 minutes of cooking.

Garnish with more black pepper as desired.

Serve with rice and pickled vegetables.

DID YOU MAKE THIS DISH?

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