This was a really promising recipe from The Vietnamese Collection cookbook by Jackum Brown that ultimately turned out a bit disappointing, as it was insanely salty. Not a surprise, given how salty fish sauce is, but there’s got to be a better way to make it flavorful, but less salty. Maybe replacing half the fish sauce with coconut milk? I don’t know.
If you like super-salty food, you’ll love this.
What you’ll need:
- 3.5 oz light muscovado sugar (brown sugar works, too)
- 4 oz fish sauce
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 0.25 cups shallots, chopped
- 1t coarse-ground pepper
- 1 lb pork loin, thinly sliced
- 4 hard-boiled eggs, cooled, shelled and cut in half, longitudinally
What to do:
Heat the fish sauce in a medium frypan (nonstick works best) and add the sugar, stirring to completely dissolve it.
Add the garlic, shallots, pepper and pork to the pan, stirring to distribute them evenly. Cover, but not tightly, and simmer the meat over low heat, stirring occasionally, until it is cooked through. This will take fewer than 30 minutes.
When the pork is cooked, turn up the heat somewhat to caramelize the sugar a bit, stirring often.
To serve, add the pork to a serving platter and surround it with the egg halves, drizzling the remaining fish sauce/sugar mixture over the meat and eggs.
Serve with rice or fried noodles.
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