Thit Heo Kho Chung (Vietnamese Braised Pork with Egg)
HEO YEAH :) Get it?!!
Thit heo kho chung is something I grew up with. It's very savory and the perfect dish for when I'm craving meat and eggs. This isn't my mom's recipe (I'll get that someday!). It's actually my cousin's - who I think is a better cook than my mom. She lives about two hours from us though so I don't see her often but when she visited, I asked her to show me how to make this.
This is a multi-step dish that takes HOURS to make. If you have a lot of free time, or will be spending the day at home doing miscellanious things, then this is a great dish to make. It takes around 2-3 hours to make. Braised pork (or braised any type of meat) means to first sear or blanch the meat and then simmered in very little liquid on low heat over a long period of time. The outcome is very tender meat that falls off the bone or falls apart in your mouth.
3 lb pork meat (some with bone, a little fatty)
10 small red onion
4 cloves of garlic
1/4 lemon
1 whole white onion
nuoc mam
saltsugar
rock sugar
bot nem ga
2 fresh coconut (choose the shaved ones)
1 can of natural coconut flavored soda (Coco Rico is one good brand)
10 chili peppers (cut off the stem and remove spicy seeds from the inside; set aside for later)
Prepping the liquid
1. In a dutch oven, over medium heat add about 2 tablespoons of sugar. No oil is needed if you want a less fatty meal (b/c the fat from the pork meat will be enough). You want to brown but not burn the sugar.
2. When sugar is browned, turn down the heat immediately to avoid burning the sugar. Burnt sugar is very bitter so try not to burn it! Then, turn off the heat and let cool for a few seconds.
3. Add 1 pho spoon nuoc mam to the dutch oven. Add 3/4 tsp of salt 3/4 tsp of bot nem ga. (Remember, the heat must be off.)
Parboiling the meat
*This is the process of cooking meat in boiling water to remove the impurities.
1. In a large pot of boiling water, add the meat.
2. Sprinkle some salt into the water. This helps clean the meat. When meat looks cooked in the outside, turn off heat.
3. Remove meat from the pot and wash under cold water.
4. Shave the skin with a sharp knife to clean and cut into 2 inch chunks. Cut off excess fat.
5. Add meat to the dutch oven you prepped earlier with the sugar/fish sauce liquid. Toss the meat around to coat it in the marinade.
6. Squeeze 1/4 lemon and add 1/2 tsp pepper.
7. Let sit in the marinade for ~1.5 hours. (If you're rushed for time, you can let it sit in the marinade for 10-15 minutes and turn on high eat for a few mins).
Boiling the eggs
1. In another pot, add water. Add 1 dozen eggs to the water and turn on the heat. Add a little salt (this depresses the boiling point of water and makes it boil faster.)
2. Eggs are done cooking with the water boils. Turn off heat.
3. Remove eggs from water. You can rinse it under cold water. Let cool and peel the eggs. Set aside. 
Braising the meat
1. Add the juice from 2 coconut to the pot. Add 1/2 can of coconut soda to pot. If you don't have fresh coconuts, you can just add 1 can of coconut soda. Let cook on high to evaporate most of the juices for 10-15 minutes.
2. Add about 4 cups of water and your garlic, red and white onions, chili. I suggest cutting the white onion into quarter or half chunks.
3. Cook on high heat until it boils.
4. When the broth boils, scoop out the nasty stuff that rises to the top. Then turn down to med heat.
6. Add the eggs.
7. Turn down to medium low heat and simmer for 1-1.5 hours.
8. Retaste occasionally. Add 1 tsp of nuoc mam and 1 tsp of rock sugar. You can add more or less as you see fit. Add water if needed to dilute.
9. About 1/2 to 3/4 way through simmering, remove the garlic and onions and some of the chili peppers (like 3-4). You can leave the rest chili peppers.
10. The mixture is done when most of the water/liquid has evaporated. Will take around 10-20 mins.
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