Vietnamese Braised Pork Belly

1. Stage

Place pork belly in a large Dutch oven or pot. Fill Dutch oven with enough cool water to cover the pork belly then add the salt and vinegar. Soak for 15 minutes to start removing impurities from the meat. Drain and rinse meat of salt and vinegar. Return pork belly to the Dutch oven. 

2. Stage

Pour enough fresh water to cover pork belly again. Bring to a boil, and boil for 2 minutes. By this point, a lot of scum should come to the surface. Drain then rinse the pork under running water until water is clear. Clean Dutch oven. (Similar to the previous step, this is done to further remove impurities from the meat to yield a clearer sauce. This step also makes it easier to slice the pork.)

3. Stage

Cut pork into 1.5” cubes, making sure they are about the same size so they will cook evenly together. 

4. Stage

Grind shallots, garlic, and salt into a paste.

5. Stage

Coat the pork cubes evenly in the shallot-garlic paste, sugar, fish sauce, and black pepper. Marinate covered for 30 minutes to 2 hours in the fridge.  

6. Stage

Heat Dutch oven on medium-low. Add sugar and watch it very carefully as it melts and caramelizes. (It will be slow at first, then quickly jump to the caramel stage, so don’t take your eyes off it!) When it reaches a dark golden brown color, immediately add oil and stir to stop the cooking.

7. Stage

Turn the heat up to medium-high, add the pork pieces, and stir well for 3 minutes until the pork is browned on all sides.

8. Stage

Add coconut water, fish sauce, onion halves, chili peppers, and remainder of marinade. Add more coconut water if liquid doesn't cover the pork. Once liquid is boiling, lower the temperature to a low-medium heat; it should be at a vigorous simmer for the next 2 hours. Keep uncovered so the liquid can reduce. Throughout cooking, check on it, skim any foam or impurities from the surface, and stir every 20 minutes.

9. Stage

While the pork is cooking, place soft-boiled eggs in a large bowl or container. Remove about a cup of the liquid from the sauce and add to the peeled eggs to allow the color to permeate. This can be done at room temperature. If you are working with hard boiled eggs instead, they do not need a separate marination; they can just be peeled and thrown into the pot during the last 30 minutes of cooking. 

10. Stage

At the end of 2 hours, the liquid should have reduced to half of the original amount. Remove the onion halves and chili pepper. Test to see if the pork is tender (it should still hold its shape, but be easily broken with chopsticks) and taste the sauce. Add sugar or fish sauce if it seems under-seasoned. It’s ok if the sauce is saltier or sweeter than you’d normally cook because it will be balanced out by the plain white rice. Turn off the heat and add the soft boiled eggs, stirring and keeping them in the pot until they’ve warmed back up. 

11. Stage

Vietnamese food is traditionally served family style. If you’d like to serve it as individual  bowls, start with a rice base and top with the pork pieces. Slice the eggs in half, add spoonfuls of the sauce and crack black pepper over everything. Finally, add pickled mustard greens on the side of the bowl to cut the richness of the dish.