THIT KHO TRUNG – Vietnamese Braised Pork with Eggs

Instructions for cooking Vietnamese Braised Pork with Eggs:

• Cut the pork into smaller pieces. We prefer 1.5"(4cm) cubes so it cooks slightly faster.
• Bring 2-3 quarts of water boiling on high, orenough to fully submerge the pork. When the water's boiling, add the pork for1-2 minutes just to clean it. Drain then rinse the pork under running wateruntil the water is clear.
• Make the caramel colour in a pot.
  
• Constantly stir the sugar so it heats evenly. It will begin to clump.
• It will start to take the colour of caramel, but we want it a bit darker. When it gets darker than caramel and just starts to smoke, you are done.
• Add sugar (15 grams) and oil (1 tbsp) to the panwith on 50% heat. 50% is low enough to control the process, but we will jump tothe caramel stage of sugar quickly, so don’t take your eyes off the pan.
• Add mince garlic and small red onion in to the camamel colour.
  
• Add the pork the coconut juice, fish sauce to the pot
  
• Fill up the pot until the water just covers the pork. Turn the heat to high.
  
• Heat and let it simmer uncovered for about 1.5 to 2 hours. Check and stir the pot every 15 minutes. The longer you cook it, the softer the pork gets. Leaving it slightly uncovered lets the liquid reduce so you get a nice concentrated sauce later.
• Make the hard-boiled eggs: add to a pot andcover the eggs with cold water by 1 inch. Bring to a boil on medium-high heat. Remove from heat and let it sit for 8 minutes. Cool in water then peel. Add thehard-boiled eggs to the pot of pork in the last ~30-40 minutes of cooking.
  
• When there are about 30 minutes left on the timer add the eggs. Eventually we want the liquid to reduce to about 1/3 or1/4 of the original.