Vietnamese clay pot pork

Submitted by Nolita_Food

"One of our everyday dish. If you don't have a clay pot, use a normal saucepan, big enough to hold about 1 1/2 lbs. pork and some sauce. I prefer pork tender loin with a bit of fat, but many people like pork shoulder or pork chops. If you use pork chops, change to about 1 3/4 - 2 lbs."

 

• Ready In: 55mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 4-6

ingredients

• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1⁄4 cup sugar
• 2 -3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 whole shallots, chopped
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 1 -2 chili, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce (or change depending on your taste)
• 1 1⁄2 lbs pork tenderloin, cubed about 1 1/2 inch in size
• 1 pinch salt, to taste
• 1 pinch pepper
• 4 -6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled (optional)
• 1⁄2 cup water

directions

1. Put oil in pot or pan over medium heat, add sugar and cook, stirring frequently till it dissolves.
2. Add ginger, garlic, shallots, chili, cook for about 4-5 minutes Turn up the heat to high, add pork, stir till the meat has browned a little, then add water.
3. When it comes to a boil, lower heat to simmer.
4. Cut hard boil eggs in half and put into pot.
5. This step is optional, but the eggs will absorb all the sauce and taste heavenly!
6. Cover the pot and let it simmer.
7. I find the longer you leave it, the better it taste.
8. But after 30-35 minutes it's done.
9. Serve with cooked white rice or basmati, and that's a meal there.
10. Normally we just steam cabbage or water spinach for vegetables.

Reviews

[Puffnstuff]

This was awesome, just like mom's! So easy to make too. I put the whole egg in just like in the picture instead of cutting in half, less messy too. I did find it too sweet as some others did and would reduce the amount of sugar next time. Also, you don't mention when to add the fish sauce but adding some after I added the water turned out ok. In addition I would add a bit of maggi seasoning, or soy sauce. I've made this 3x's now and love it. I've added all kinds of things, pork, chicken, even imitation crab :) but the eggs are best. Even without adding anything this serves as a great sauce for rice.

 

[Ilovemy4kids]

The next time I make this dish, I will at least double the sauce because this dish tastes even better upon reheating, and made as is, there is hardly enough sauce. Wonderfully tasty dish. Thank you for sharing. Definitely one to repeat.

 

[jle430]

I love clay pot pork and I'm so happy I found a good recipe here. I've made this 3-4 times already and the only change I would recommend is to reduce the sugar amount to about 2 TBS. Other than that, everything else is just right. I say let it simmer just a little longer as suggested because it becomes tastier the longer you let it simmer. It's become a regular in our household. Thanks for a tasty recipe!

 

[Leonie B.]

Seriously delicious and easy meal. I too cut the sugar to 2 tablespoons. As the fish sauce wasn’t mentioned in the method I added it with the water. Once I did that I put my clay pot in the oven on 175c for around an hour. The pork was so tender. Thanks very much for a beautiful dish

 

[d4wn.chuno]

This was great as mostly followed. Cooked for an hour? Given that time, the tenderloin broke down just enough. Loved how the egg soaked up the sauce. I did shave off a 1/4 cup of Vietamese palm sugar cakes instead of using any kind of granulated sugar and definitely did not find the meal too sweet. Some additions I made post-cooking: topped with cilantro and mixed in the side of steamed cabbage. What I would change: maybe use pork shoulder or butt for more fat and a splash of vinegar. Overall good flavors, textures, smells. Not too heavy but comforting. Can't go wrong with a one pot meal.