Slow-cooked pork in a deliciously sweet-salty glaze is Vietnamese comfort food at its best
Many moons ago, I attended a cookery class in Hanoi that revealed to me the glories of thịt kho tàu, a simple but unbelievably delicious dish of caramelised pork braised in sweet coconut water and savoury fish sauce, enlivened by plenty of black pepper. In fact, loved it so much that I put their version in my cookbook, The A to Z of Eating, and then somehow forgot all about it for a decade. It’s easy to do that when you’re always working on the next recipe, but this week has been a very welcome rediscovery, not least because I’ve learned a lot more about what chef Thuy Diem Pham describes in her book The Little Viet Kitchen as “the ultimate home comfort food”.
A family favourite, it’s also traditionally served as part of the lunar new year celebrations, because, in the words of Andrea Nguyen, “Tet is for savouring abundance, which explains why this rich, savoury braise of pork and eggs in bittersweet caramel sauce is a must-have”; and also, according to blogger Hungry Huy, “because of how well it keeps after cooking”.
