This Vietnamese Pork recipe is an epic Vietnamese food speciality that’s easy to recreate in your own home. Slow cooked tender pork pieces in a sticky savoury-sweet glaze, Vietnamese Caramel Pork is a magical way to transform pork shoulder into something exotic and spectacular. And it’s SO easy!
Complete your Vietnamese banquet with fresh Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls to start and a side of fluffy coconut rice. And don’t miss the chicken version – Vietnamese Coconut Caramel Chicken!
Vietnamese Caramel Pork recipe
Vietnamese Caramel Pork is one of those gems that seem exotic, yet is unbelievably simple AND you can get everything you need at your local supermarket. The pork is braised until tender, and looks completely unimpressive until the last 5 minutes when it magically caramelises and turns into something that you’d pay serious $ for at a posh Asian restaurant.
It’s sweet yet savoury, and the pork is fork tender. It’s called Thit Kho To in Vietnamese, and it’s traditionally made with pork belly. Personally, I prefer making it with pork shoulder (butt) because I find pork belly too fatty.
I just realised – I call this “fork tender”, but I guess it’s more appropriate to say “chopstick tender”… 😂
The secret ingredient – coconut WATER
There is one ingredient in Vietnamese Caramel Pork that you may not have in your pantry but is sold in all major supermarkets nowadays – coconut water. If you’re into healthy smoothies, you may well have some stashed away!!!
It’s not expensive, $2 – $3 depending on where you get it (Asian grocer stores are cheaper), and it’s essentially the “secret ingredient” for this recipe.
It doesn’t really taste like coconut, it’s sort of salty and sweet. Which makes it ideal to use as the broth for this recipe.
Substitute for coconut water?
Make it with coconut milk! I’ve tried it, and it’s great. A little saucier, a little sweeter, with a slight coconut flavour and smell that you don’t get in the traditional recipe. See the Vietnamese Coconut Caramel Chicken recipe which is made with coconut milk.
How to make this Vietnamese Pork
I promised you this is simple – and it really is, which you’ll see in the video. It goes down like this:
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Put brown sugar and water in a pot, bring to simmer to make a caramel;
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Add pork, fish sauce*, garlic and eschallots**
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Simmer for 1.5 hours until the pork is tender. Then magically, the pot of pale brown meat pieces in a murky liquid suddenly transforms into bronzed pieces of delectable, ultra tender pork that just melts in your mouth.
* NO it will not taste fishy! It’s the Vietnamese version of soy sauce!
** French shallots, shallots, depending on where you live. The baby onions. 🙂
How to serve Vietnamese Caramel Pork
Because the glaze has quite a strong flavour, I like to serve this with plain white rice. Steamed jasmine rice would be on point.
And for a fresh side, a crunchy Asian Slaw would be very fitting – and the fresh flavour will be great to balance the richness of the pork. Or toss steamed vegetables or a garden salad with this Asian Sesame Dressing or the Nuoc Cham in this Lemongrass chicken recipe.
“This Vietnamese pork recipe is a Vietnamese food speciality. One bite, and you’ll understand why!”
I love recipes like this. Forgiving, tastes exotic, kapow! flavours. It sounds and looks exotic, but the flavours are universally appealing.
Asian Food Lovers – this is for YOU! It’s an absolute ripper that I think you’ll love! – Nagi x
Get your Vietnamese fix!
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Vietnamese Coconut Caramel Chicken – the chicken version of this recipe
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Lemongrass Chicken – one of my favourite things to grill!
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Vietnamese Caramelised Pork Bowls – the super quick version of the above
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Browse all Vietnamese recipes
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Vietnamese Caramel Pork recipe video!
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Vietnamese Caramel Pork
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup / 100g brown sugar, tightly packed
- 1 tbsp water
- 1 kg / 2 lb pork shoulder (butt) or boneless skinless pork belly, cut into 3 cm / 1.2" pieces (Note 1a)
- 1.5 cups / 375 ml coconut water (Note 1b)
- 1 eschallot / shallot , very finely sliced (Note 2)
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
Garnishes:
- Red chilli and finely sliced shallots/green onions
Instructions
- Place sugar and water in a large pot over medium heat. Stir, then when it bubbles and the sugar is melted (it looks like caramel), add the rest of the ingredients.
- Stir, then adjust the heat so it is simmering fairly energetically. Not rapidly, not a slow simmer (I use medium heat on a weak stove, between medium and low on a strong stove).
- Simmer for 1.5 hours, uncovered. Stir once or twice while cooking.
- At around 1.5 hours, when the liquid has reduced down and the pork is tender, (see Note 3 if pork is not yet tender), the fat will separate (see video).
- Stir and the pork will brown and caramelise in the fat.
- Once the liquid is all gone and it's now stuck on the pork pieces, it's ready.
- Serve over rice, garnished with fresh chilli and shallots. Simple pickled vegetables are ideal for a side because the fresh acidity pairs well with the rich pork.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
DON’T MISS…..
The chicken version made with coconut milk – Vietnamese Coconut Caramel Chicken!
LIFE OF DOZER
Still his favourite toy. I swear, I can feel the attitude reverberating off him every time I see him bounding around in the backyard with this toy.
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Eleanor Campbell says
Made this yesterday. Never made anything Vietnamese before. We really enjoyed it. Will make it regularly.
Nagi says
It’s soooo easy and a great one for last minute meals! N x
Megan says
can we sub something else for coconut water, like oat milk or water? 😀 I know it’s kind of off but I personally don’t like to drink coconut water by itself and I don’t really want to buy it just for 1.5 cups for this dish. Thx!
lucilla Sinanian says
You can’t taste coconut. It’s a wonderful recipe
Nagi says
Not in this one Megan – sorry! They do have small bottles at the grocery stores here that would not result in any wastage. Maybe see if you can find one of those! N x
Anna says
I’ll admit to some trepidation with this recipe’s method – no pre-browning the pork, no sauteing the onions and garlic before chucking it all in the pan to simmer? Not what I’m used to! But I was excited to try this easy method and the result was excellent. Nice texture, lovely flavor. Can’t wait to try the chicken version next
Sondra says
Can i skip the fish sauce since I do not have any? Or is there a substitute?
Bo says
IMHO, there really is no substitute for fish sauce. It has this umami that really can’t be replicated. I suggest ordering some (it really does not go bad) off of Amazon (if in the US). Red Boat is a really good brand.
Barb says
Omg Nagi, yesterday Moth and I went to Fat Noodle, BrisVegas. The 1st person we saw was Luke Nguyen. I was star-struck and I dumbly pointed at him and my mouth wide open. He later came over to our table and spoke to us for about 10mins. At first I could hardly speak to him bumbling my words.
Gosh, he’s a nice bloke.
I mentioned RTEs to him and he knew what you were about.
He’s in my top 2 of celebrity chefs. We’re going to Cornwall in Aug, i can’t imagine how I’d react if we bumped into Rick Stein.
Nagi says
Oh wow Barb that is great!! I get totally star-struck like that too when I see my fave chefs!! N x
Katrin Albrecht says
ABSOLUTELY DELICOUS!
My husband also did love it.
I made it with pork neck.
First I was afraid, it would turn out hard. but I made a little bit more liquid and let it simmer lower and longer, it was soft, tender and OMG the taste!
I love your clear and exact instructions, the help me with my ADHD to come to wonderful results and not burning down the kitchen, thank you so much for it!
Krista says
This is such a cool recipe. The first time I made it, I made it with coconut milk and added a chilli for some spice. Overdid it a little but, it was very spicy but very nice nonetheless. I’m actually making it atm, no chilli this time and I’m using coconut water. Hopefully it works since I didn’t have any shallots and I think i might have put too much coconut water. Lats time I was using this recipe there was a link to crunchy cucumber and carrot salad, can’t find it now. anyways, huge fan of this blog. I tried the Mediterranean pasta salad as well – very nice!
Nagi says
I am very happy that you didn’t burn down your kitchen Katrin!! N x
Andie says
Hello, have you ever used palm sugar instead of brown sugar for this recipe?
Nagi says
No but that’s definitely the more traditional ingredient for Vietnamese foods so go for it! N x
Rob Driessen says
Shouldn’t you add water into the bowl (besides vinegar, sugar and salt) for the pickeld vegetables? See note 4
Lisa Masters says
Hi
Would this recipe work if I simmered in chefs pan in the oven rather then stove top
Ta
Nagi says
I don’t think so Lisa – it needs to evaporate quickly. N x
Lisa Masters says
Thank you for reply
Renee says
This is amazing. I used pork belly and used it as a filling for rice paper rolls with noodle and pickle. It was so delicious. Another brilliant recipe!
Nagi says
Oh that sounds SOOOOO good Renee!!! N x
JuneVee says
Ah, Nagi – you never fail me! I adapted this to my All In One cooker tonight (pressure cook then saute till caramelised) and it was absolutely amazing. The taste, the tenderness, the sweet deliciousness of it. And served with the suggested quick pickle. Thank you!
Jane says
How long did you pressure cook the pork?
Jillian Henry says
Amazing recipe. It’s a must eat dinner in our house every week. I would like to make it for 10 people so would x5 of ingredients in one pot work or should I use several pots?
Jen says
This looks amazing. I am going to cook this for my family lunch this weekend! Do I add the coconut water in the first step?
Kiran says
Hi Nagi – this recipe looks amazing. Thank you so much for your detailed steps. My son is allergic to coconut/tree nuts. Is there a replacement for coconut water?
Kiran says
Thanks so much for this recipe. So, just wanted to update – my son is allergic to coconut so I made the following changes.
Used water
Added 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
Added a sliced Thai pepper
(I doubt any of this is a good replacement for coconut water, but it maintained flavor)
The water dissolved off before meat was tender so added a 1/2 cup hot water.
The meal came out delicious. My kids were in heaven! Served with jasmine rice with chopped scallions as garnish.
Lynda says
Amazing Nagi! Why haven’t I made this sooner??? I was concerned that this wasn’t going to work but then just like magic it came together at the end like you said it would. Tender, delicious and lip smacking. Thanks for another fantastic recipe, please give Dozer a scratch behind his ear from me ☺️
Nagi says
I am happy you enjoyed it Lynda and Dozer says thanks!! N x
sandy williams says
Please pay close attention to Nagi’s advice to use “skinless” pork belly.
I made the mistake of using boneless pork belly with the skin on.
In the last 5 minutes of cooking I heard popping. When I approached the stove one piece of pork exoceted from the saucepan, hot sticky caramel sauce exploded onto the walls, the ceiling, my forehead, my hair – in fact most things within a 2 metre radius.
After an extensive clean up I sit with a piece of ice on my forehead, enjoying a delicious meal and my partner telling me this dish is a winner vowing to pay heed to Nagi’s instructions to the letter.
Nagi says
Oh wow! I am glad that you are ok!!! N x
Janice Clarke says
Is there a substitute for coconut..I’m allergic..thankyou
Ally says
Hi Nagi, I’m sure it was a user-error, but when I tried the recipe tonight for the 1st time, after around 40 mins on med/low heat with constant stirring, my saucepan started burning and I had to scoop up the meat quickly. What did I do wrong? The meat still turned out delicious with a bit of chargrill though!
Steve says
Me too
Charmaine says
Yum Yum Yum! I made a double batch, with coconut rice with the intention there would be enough for some lunch the following day. Needless to say there are no lunches😁 Big hit with all the family.✅
Dane says
Hi Nagi, If I wanted to serve this in some of the reduced caramel broth, would you suggest I make a little more of the liquid, and remove a cup or 2 before the end and then let the pork caramelise?