Thịt Kho Tàu - 東坡肉 - Dongpo Pork - Vietnamese Style Braised Pork Belly

Where ever there are Chinese immigrants, there is a variation of thịt kho tàu.  In Vietnamese, tàu means boat.  The term came about because during the Japanese invasion into China, the Chinese seek refuge in Vietnam and they came by boat.  A friend's grandmother recalled they came off boats in large numbers and in huge waves.  Many of these boat people settled in southern Vietnam and Cambodia.

This recipe is more healthier version made without the fat and skin attached.  I know a lot of Vietnamese people feel that you can't have this dish without the fat and skin attached.  When making the "healthier" version, look for a well marbled cut of pork, with some fat integrated into the meat.  Any shoulder or butt piece would do the job.  I stay away from the loin cut because it is too lean and the dish will come out dry.

2 lbs Boston butt roast
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1-2 coconuts with liquid or 2 cans of coconut juice
2 Tbsp thick soy sauce or caramel sauce
4-6 hard-boiled eggs
1 Tbsp sugar
6-10 points star anise
Water

Cut the pork into 1-inch squares.  Rinse and clean the pork well.  Add oil to the bottom of your pot and sautee the garlic, avoiding burning them. Place the cut pork in the pot.  Sear the meat and pour in the coconut juice.  It should come up to the top of the meat.  If not, use water to get you the rest of the way. Allow for it to simmer with lid on, on medium heat.  Scoop out any impurities that float to the top.  About 20 minutes in, add the thick soy sauce.  About 40 minutes in, add the eggs. Make sure that the eggs gets pushed below the water line. Add sugar.  Cook on low heat until the pork is tender.  It will take about an hour.

Gà Kho Gừng - Ginger Chicken

Difficulty: Medium

Ginger has medicinal properties known to calm a upset stomach and settle cancer patients' stomach after a round of chemotherapy. It also helps with blood circulation and believed to have anticancer agents.  Ginger has been part of Asian cooking for over 4000 years.

I can remember eating this dish as a child and hating it because of the pungent and spicy components of the dish.  In college, a Laos guy from Sanford, FL made their version of this dish and I was in tears.  It was so spicy and bitter.  I can remember him sitting there making 2 or more cups of julienne slices to add to a half pound of chicken.  When I look back on the dish, it was very delicious.  So I made my own version of the recipe.

1 lb chicken thighs, skinless and boneless, cut into bit size pieces
3 to 4 pieces of 1 inch nubs of ginger, cut into little match stick pieces
2 cloves garlic minced
1 small onion, cut into wedges
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp fish sauce
1/4 tsp sugar
Water

Start off by heating up a pan and adding enough oil to cover the bottom.  Add your minced garlic and ginger matchsticks.  Saute until fragrant.  Add the bite size chicken pieces.  Brown the chicken for about 5 minutes. Add the water, salt, pepper, sugar, and fish sauce. Stir it well then cover.  Cook for another 5-7 minutes or until when the ginger is soft but still have a crunch.  Taste the sauce and adjust the flavors.

Spicy Eggplant

1/2 lb of ground pork or  chicken
3 large Japanese eggplant, cut into 3 inch long wedges like cucumber spears
8-10 cloves ginger, minced
3 inch knob ginger, julienne
Water or stock
2 Tbsp corn or wheat starch and 2 Tbsp water, stir to make slurry

Sauce:
1 Tbsp chili sauce
5 tsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp hoisin sauce
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsp sugar
2 stem green onion, chopped


Combine all the sauce ingredients and set aside.  Heat up pan with oil.  When the oil is hot, add the ginger and garlic.  Stir until fragrant.  Add the ground protein and brown until the pink is gone.  Add the sauce and combine well.  Drop in the eggplant, add enough water or stock to cover the eggplant mixture, and the cornstarch slurry.  Allow for it to simmer on medium heat until the eggplant is translucent. 

This can be made vegetarian by substituting the ground meat for tofu and woodear/black fungus mushrooms.

Gà Rô-ti - Roasted Chicken or Braised Chicken

Difficulty: Hooker Easy

There is three ways to make ga roti.  The ones who can afford an oven in Vietnam, make a roasted version.  You can grill it over charcoal. My preferred method is the braised version.  It offers a sauce and the chicken can be very tender if you braise it at a low enough heat for a longer period of time. This is an adaption of my mother in-law's version.

For the braised version of this recipe, leg quarters is the preferred cut of chicken to use. The dark meat offers the fattiness that lends to a tastier dish.  I personally don't like drumsticks, so I use thighs.

8 thighs

6-8 cloves garlic, minced finely

2 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp fish sauce

1 Tbsp oyster sauce

Ground black pepper, preferably freshly ground for sweetness

Sugar

Water

First you want to prepare the chicken.  Start by trimming off any excess skin on the thighs and bits of visible fat.  You can go skinless also.  Marinade the chicken with the garlic, soy sauce, and oyster sauce.  Allow for marinade for about 2 hours or more.

Heat up a deep pan or wok with enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan.  Sprinkle in about 1 Tbsp or enough to have a thin layer of sugar covering the bottom of the pan and allow for it to develop color.  You want the sugar to be almost black but not burnt.  You want a very rich dark color.  Add the chicken and turn the chicken so that the caramel coats the chicken.  Brown it on both sides.  Add 1-2 tsp of water and cover the pan.  Simmer the chicken for about 5-7 minutes on each side.  Add the freshly ground black pepper and fish sauce.

If like a more tender chicken, braise for about 30-40 minutes on low with the lid on.

Sườn Rim Mặn - Caramelized ribs

Difficulty: Easy to Medium (Easy if you have the butcher do all the cutting)

Cooking on the bone has a way of imparting flavor.  The fat molecules that is inside of the bones is released into the meat when it is cooking.  This dish is one of my family's favorite and it can be a very inexpensive dish to make.  The suon dish was part of my rack of rib challenge, where I attempted to see how many different dishes I can make with one rack of ribs. (I will post more about that later.)

You can buy ribs already prepared for you at the Asian market.  It is often called Hong Kong style ribs.  I also get my local grocery store butcher to saw it across the bone and cut them into small pieces when I get home.  If you have a heavy clever at home, you can also cut them into small pieces yourself (like I choose to do on the day I made this dish.)

1 lb ribs
2 cloves garlic minced
1 small shallot minced
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tsp water

First you want to marinade the ribs with the minced garlic and shallots.  Set aside for 15 mins.

Let's make the caramel sauce.  Heat a pan or wok with enough oil to cover the bottom.  Add the sugar and watch for the sugar to develop color.

When the sugar get to a dark brown color, add the ribs in and stir to evenly coat the ribs with the caramel. Brown the ribs for about 5 minutes.  Add the salt, pepper and water.  Cover and allow to cook for about 10-15 minutes.  The ribs will be cook when you see the meat pull from the bone, as pictured.  Add your fish sauce.  Stir in well and taste to adjust with more sugar or fish sauce.

Most Vietnamese families will dress this dish with sliced cucumbers and tomatoes.  The caramel sauce goes well with them.

Gà Kho Xốt Đậu Đen - Chicken with fermented chili black bean sauce

Difficulty: Easy

When I was in college, I was introduced to dim sum.  One of my favorite little dim sum dish was the steamed ribs with black bean.  The salty fermented taste of the black beans was very pleasant to my palate and I wanted to replicated it but had no idea where to start.  I stumbled on a prepared jar of black beans and came up with this dish.  Kho is better know in the western world as braising, a French cooking technique.  You would cook/sear the meat at a high heat and then you simmer in a liquid.  This dish is served over rice with a platter of sliced cucumbers, tomato, lettuce/leafy herbs.

1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tbsp oyster sauce or XO sauce

1/4 tsp mushroom seasoning

2 cloves garlic minced finely

1 stalk green onions cut

1 tsp of fish sauce

1.5 tsp chili black bean sauce

2 tbsp of water or chicken broth

Lee Kum Kee Brand is the best of all that I have tried.

Prepare chicken by cutting it into bite size pieces and set aside.  In a pan, heat up enough oil to cover the bottom.  Make sure the chicken is close by before you brown the garlic.  When the garlic is a light golden color, add the chicken and saute with mushroom seasoning, salt and pepper.  When you chicken is browned, add the water or broth and cover. Cook on a medium heat until the chicken has tighten up, usually about 7-10 minutes.  Remember to stir occasionally.  Cover and simmer for 15-20 additional minutes or until it is tender to your liking.  Add the oyster sauce, chili black bean sauce (picture of the jar below), and fish sauce.  Taste and adjust to your liking.  You can add 1/4 tsp of sugar if you find it too salty or one dimensional.  Finish the dish with the green onion.