Pork and Eggs Simmered in Coconut Juice and Caramel Sauce

By kbwinson

Vietnamese comfort food. One of my favorites. The recipe for the caramel sauce is included.

Ingredients

• Caramel Sauce:
• 1 1/2 lbs boneless Pork chops
• 1/2 cup Caramel Sauce (ingredients below)
• 3 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp sugar or Splenda
• 6 large eggs, hard boiled and peeled
• 1 1/2 cups canned coconut juice, strained of bits of coconut meat
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 cup sugar, NO substitutions

Details

Servings 4

Preparation

Step 1

For the Caramel Sauce:
Pour sugar into a small saucepan and turn the heat on the burner to medium-high.

Stir the sugar continuously; as the sugar heats and melts, it will caramelize and turn brown like molasses. It is normal for it to smoke.

Reduce the heat to medium-low and slowly add the ¾ cup water. Be careful, as the mixture will splatter. There will be a lot of smoke.

Continue to stir and cook until the water and caramelized sugar is mixed well. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Allow to cool; this sauce will store indefinitely in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

For the main dish:

Cut the meat into long chunks about 1” thick and 2 to 3” long. Put the pork into 3- or 4- quart saucepan an add the caramel sauce, fish sauce, and sugar. Give everything a stir with a rubber spatula or spoon to coat the meat with the seasonings. Set aside to marinate for 45 minutes, turning the meat every 15 minutes.

Cover the pan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Uncover and stir to ensure that each piece of meat is well exposed to the bubbling seasonings. Re-cover and simmer for 5 minutes, or until the pork is a gorgeous golden brown.

Add the eggs, coconut juice, and water just to cover. Bring to a boil, uncovered, over medium high heat. Use a spoon to skim ad discard any scum that rises to the surface an then lower the heat to a simmer. Cover partially and cook for 1 ½ hrs, rotating the pork and eggs occasionally to ensure that they cook evenly. Uncover and continue simmering for 15 minutes after uncovering, or until the meat is tender when pierced with the tip of a knife and the sauce is reduced by half.

Remove from the heat and let stand for a few minutes so that the fat collects on the surface, then use a ladle or spoon to skin it off. ( Or, let cool, cover, and refrigerate overnight to congeal the fat, making the task much easier; reheat before continuing.) Return to a simmer and taste the sauce. Add extra fish sauce and/or sugar to create a deeper savory, sweet flavor, or water to lighten the flavor.

To serve, transfer the pork, whole eggs, and sauce to a shallow bowl. Let the diners halve the eggs as they eat them, using their soup spoon (or provide a knife) to cut them. Or, halve the eggs in the kitchen and serve the pork in a large, deep dish with the halved eggs rimming the meat. This dish is served over hot rice.