Michael Bao Huynh's Vietnamese Caramelized Pork
- Total Time
- 45 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1½cups sugar
- 2½pounds pork belly or butt, sliced into thin, inch-long strips
- 1tablespoon salt
- ½teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼cup fish sauce
- 2heaping teaspoons minced garlic
- 1dash sesame oil
- 1medium Vidalia onion, sliced
- 4scallions, sliced, green part only
- Rice for serving
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
1888 calories; 151 grams fat; 55 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 70 grams monounsaturated fat; 16 grams polyunsaturated fat; 103 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 80 grams sugars; 30 grams protein; 1514 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Cover bottom of a large, heavy skillet with one cup sugar and place over medium low heat. As soon as it melts and turns golden, add pork, raise heat to medium, and stir until coated. (Sugar will become sticky and may harden, but it will re-melt as it cooks, forming a sauce.)
- Step 2
Stir in remaining sugar, salt, pepper and fish sauce. Cover and cook 2 minutes. Uncover, stir in garlic and oil and lower to simmer to reduce sauce for about 20 minutes.
- Step 3
Stir in Vidalia onions and cook until translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Pork should be caramelized; if not, raise heat and sauté while sauce further reduces. Transfer to serving bowl, and sprinkle with scallion greens.
Private Notes
Comments
Such a delicious meal. Changes I made: -use 1/2 cup sugar at the beginning, then another 1/2 cup when recipe calls for it (total of 1 cup) -cut back just a bit on the fish sauce and add a few dashes of soy sauce -add chili oil in addition to sesame oil -add a squeeze of orange -add 1-1.5 Tbsp sriracha Top with scallions, thinly sliced red chili, and a sprinkle of sesame seeds. Serve with coconut rice and roasted broccoli Double the recipe because the left overs are absolutely delicious!
Added a squirt of Schiracha to this, hit it out of the park!
Prepared exactly as written, using pork belly from Trader Joe's refrigerator case. The sugar took a while to melt in my cast-iron skillet, but just as I was getting nervous it turned into golden-brown liquid, and everything else went exactly as written. Served on brown rice with braised cabbage as a side, and with a dash of Schriracha, as someone else suggested here. We loved it, and will be having it again (occasionally - it's very rich for daily fare).
I have been meaning to cook this for a while. After reading the comments I did reduce the sugar a bit, although I did run out of normal sugar and had to replace with brown sugar so trying to see if it has ‘caramelised was difficult! It did take maybe 25-30 minute to properly reduce and when I added the onions it did increase the moisture a bit more too. I added bay leaves and some ginger too. At the end it did feel a bit too sweet for the rich pork belly so I did add a bit of balsamic vinegar to cut through the fat. Also if you eat it with kimchi it’s also great for cutting through the fat taste.
If the sugar is taking forever to melt, like it did for me, add an ounce or two of cold water and Shazam, the sugar will melt, and then you can put the pork in stir it around and start cooking
If you enjoy the caramelized pork in a good Banh Mi, then this recipe is for you. I made it as written and my teenage son commented it didn’t need quite so much sugar. Completely agree with the other readers, that a bit less sugar and a bit of spice would be perfect.