Ruoc thit heo (shredded pork)

I was a little bit hesitant about sharing this recipe. Not because it wasn’t tasty, but because I think it’s not something for everyone. But after I let my boss have a taste and he liked it, I thought why not. Maybe you get to like it as well.

When we grew up (I have 3 “little” sisters) we were always so exited when mom decided to make this. We love ruoc, either just like that or with bread or rice. My mom always makes it with 4-5 ingredients: pork, garlic, fish sauce, fresh ground pepper and sugar. Although her pork was cooked for a long time it was still very hard to pull apart and that was the part we all hated. It took forever to shred all the pork in itsy bitsy pieces and after a while all our fingers would hurt. Her pork has barely any fat at all and yes, it is almost the best cut of pork you can get, but for my ruoc I like to use less expensive pork with a bit more fat.

I actually use the same cut of pork as for my roast pork recipe. I think it is what you call the leg/ham part of the pig. Basically any cut that has lots of meat and a bit of fat is good.

I started with cutting one onion and about one head of garlic and stir fried that in a bit of oil till it was golden brown. Then all the meat (about 1 kilo, maybe a bit more) went in.

When the meat was no longer red I added about half a cup of fish sauce, 3 cups of water (enough to cover the meat) and had a taste. Of course it is very salty so I added some sugar to balance it out. I’m looking for a salty, sweet marinade. I also added a lot of fresh ground pepper.

Now all I had to do is to wait till everything is cooked through and the meat is almost falling apart. I kept an eye on it so I could scoop out all the foam and once that was done I could sit down and relax.

It took quite some time for the water to reduce down and because at this point the meat was almost falling apart (after about 1-2 hours), I took the meat out and cooked the marinade till there was about 1 cm left on the bottom of the pan. The marinade turned into this sticky thick sauce. This would help to flavor the meat more.

After shredding it in little pieces I put a handful in a plastic colander and used my hand to roll them around inside the colander. This would help to break the meat apart more and to fluff them up a bit. I was too busy doing this that I didn’t take a picture. It took me a couple of batches to get this done.

I put the meat back into the pan with the sauce and mixed everything.

Then it was time to “dry” the meat. It was too much to do it all in one time so I divided it in 2 batches. In a pan (I used a wok) half of the meat went in. I tossed and turned them on medium heat till the meat was golden brown and dry.

This is how it should look like. Now that I looked at it again it kinda looks like sheep’s wool.

We use to bring it back from Vietnam, but since we have no clue what they put in there, it is better to make it ourselves. It takes a bit of time but it takes some time to eat it as well.

I remember seeing this on a bun together with some pate, cuts of meat and picked carrots and daikon root. Maybe you've tried this combo before. 

It was enough for 3 jars and I keep them in the fridge. They will stay good for quite some time, but normally don’t last longer then a couple of weeks; especially since I always give some out to my sisters. They never made it themselves, but of course love to eat it. My sisters will be so happy when they get their own jar this weekend.

I love to eat it with rice, either fresh hot rice or one day old cold rice. I made these balls with old cold rice and rolled them in the ruoc. It was a great snack!

Roast "red" pork

I wanted to make some cha siu bao from scratch, but didn’t get much further then the cha siu roast pork. Mom and dad came over for the weekend and mom said you need some kind of special flour to get the nice and white bun. So no cha siu bao…yet…If we manage to stay away from the roast pork long enough I might be able to make the bao in a couple of days.

I wrote all the seasoning on an itsy bitsy paper I need to post the recipe before it gets lost.

For my roast red pork of course I use the roast red pork seasoning mix. In fact I use it in most of my meat rubs. And it is great in sparerib marinade so I always have a stack of these packages in my pantry.

From the top left to the right I used: lots of fresh ground pepper, half a tablespoon of garlic powder, half a teaspoon ground star anise and half a teaspoon paprika powder, one teaspoon salt, half a tablespoon of ginger powder and 2 tablespoons of roast red pork seasoning.

I found these beautiful cuts of pork. It has lots of meat on it and also a little bit of fat. The fat makes it less dry I think.

I gave them all a good rub down and after every piece was covered with the seasoning I put them in a container so all the flavors could develop.

After sitting in the fridge for 2 days it was time to make roast pork!

I fried them in some oil first to sear the meat and lock those nice juices in. Then they went into an 180C degrees oven for 15-18 minutes. They were so tasty and juicy that my hubby had some slices on a regular white bun. It tasted just like cha siu bao he said. Mission accomplished =)

Ps: if they don’t end up in a bun for breakfast/lunch we will have these for dinner tomorrow with some rice and veggies.

It was very hard not snacking on the meat but we managed to save them. This was last night’s dinner!

Pork chops and rice

Sometimes you are in the mood for something simple. Simple but delicious. Who doesn’t want that?

I decided to make some pork chops with rice. Something similar to “com tam thit nuong” but then the easy way.

I admit this doesn’t look easy at all. But it looks more complicated then it actually was. You see some rice, fried egg, pork chop, green beans, mushrooms and spring onions on a plate. Keep it easy and start with the pork chops. Everytime I'm making a meat dish I try to come up with the recipe one day ahead so the meat has time to marinate.

If I am using meat from the freezer I take it out before I go to bed. It defrosts over night and before I head to work I marinate it. I used some salt, pepper, garlic powder, sesame oil and oyster sauce. I store it in a container in the fridge till the hubby gets home and take it out so it can come back to room temperature.  

I told the hubby to cook some rice when he comes home so all I have to when I come home is to cook the rest. I had my little sister cooking the green beans and I was making the fish sauce while I baked the pork. I chopped some spring onions and fried them in some oil with some pepper and salt. In the same pan I baked the pork I sautéed the mushrooms. Then I cleaned that pan and fried one egg per person.

I love nice plated dishes and I wish I could plate thing up nicely. So jealous of people who can make their dish look like a painting. I guess that if I put my mind to it, I would be able to create something nice, but at home I like to keep it simple. Everything on one plate. For now I leave the presentation to the “professionals”.

Thit kho

Can’t make caramel sauce without making thit kho. Which is one of my hubby's favorit. There are different versions and everyone has their own recipe but it always has meat and caramel sauce. I use to make it with fresh bamboo or with fried tofu. But the last couple of years I only make it with eggs. Cuz the hubby loves it and you got to keep the hubby happy.

These are the ingredients I use:

-          lots of fatty pork with or without skin

-          eggs

-          onion

-          garlic

-          ginger

-          lemon grass

-          ginger

-          bay leaves

-          chili pepper

-          and of course salt and fresh grounded pepper

As you can see with cooking I rarely put in the quantities. It is all about experimenting and taste.

I start with chopping the onion, the garlic, the lemon grass and the ginger.

Then I chopped the meat in cubes. I got some fatty pork with skin but if you don’t like the skin you should remove it before you chop it.

I used the same pan, in which I made the caramel sauce, to stir-fry everything, starting with the onion then the ginger, lemon grass, chili pepper, bay leaves and the garlic. And I covered everything with freshly grounded pepper.

After everything is browned a bit and the whole kitchen smells like food I added the meat.

In the meantime I also cooked and peeled some hard boiled eggs and dropped them in the same pot. I seasoned it with some salt, but you can also use fish sauce.

Remember the bowl of caramel sauce I made earlier? Throw the whole bowl in the pot. If you are too lazy to make the caramel sauce, you can use some Indonesian ketjap sauce (ketjap manis) also. The flavor is a bit different, but you will still get the nice golden brown color. In fact I always use a little bit in my thit kho.

Now comes the easy part. Just add enough water to cover everything and let it boil. Then taste it one last time before you turn the heat on low and let it simmer till the meat is soft and almost falls apart. This can take a couple of hours though. Make sure you check the pot once a while and add extra water when needed.

To get a clear broth you do need to remove the foam once a while.

I always cook it one day ahead. On day one it has been cooking for at least 2 hours and on the day we eat it, I will cook it for another 2 hours. But before I cook it for the second time I make sure I scoop as much fat off as possible. Before you serve it you can sprinkle some chopped coriander and spring onion on top, if you have it at hand.

This is how we eat it. I made some sweet and sour ginger Chinese cabbage and plain white rice. Mom made sweet and sour Chinese mustard greens (gai choy) which go great with thit kho also. Basically anything that is sweet and sour will go well with thit kho. Make sure you eat it with plain white rice to balance it all out.