This braised pork belly and pickled mustard greens recipe comes from the depths of my childhood and is vastly underrated compared to some of the more popular varieties of Vietnamese braised pork belly dishes like Thit Kho Trung or Thit Kho Tieu. However, the fatty pork is perfectly complemented by the sour pickles, making for a truly delicious and well-rounded bite!
This dish is a true Vietnamese home-cooked essential beloved by my parents’ generation, and I’m hoping to continue passing this recipe down to future generations.
This recipe starts off like many other braised pork recipes, taking bite-sized pieces of pork belly and browning it off in “Nước Màu,” or a caramel sauce, before braising it in fish sauce, sugar, and garlic. Where this recipe starts to diverge is the addition of the pickled mustard greens.
A typical Vietnamese dish consists of braised protein and pickles (among other things like soups and veggies), and they’re usually served separately. This dish, though, combines the two during the cooking process to make a beautiful, composed dish that hits all the sweet, savory, and sour notes.
This is also the perfect dish to make if your pickled mustard greens have been fermenting for too long and are too sour to eat on their own. If you’re looking for a pickled mustard greens recipe, stay tuned as I’ll be releasing my version here shortly!
Rinse your pickled mustard greens in cold water before adding them to the pot. This will wash away the excess salt, better controlling the taste of the recipe.
This recipe calls for skin-on pork belly; as the skin and fat render during the braising process, you’ll be left with a piece of pork that melts in your mouth and has just a little bit of bounce—insanely great texture. If you can’t find skin-on pork belly, feel free to use any pork belly that you can get your hands on, and you could even substitute with pork shoulder or a leaner cut of pork if you’re looking to save on some calories.
My recipe uses just water to braise, but with some slight adjustments to the sugar, you could definitely use Coco Rico instead, which will help tenderize the pork belly further and add a subtle coconut flavor to the dish.
This post is part of a collaboration with The Asian American Foundation (TAAF). All opinions…
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