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:
- Put brown sugar and water in a pot, bring to simmer to make a caramel;
- Add pork, fish sauce*, garlic and eschallots**
- 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!
- Bun Cha – Vietnamese Meatballs (Noodle Bowl)
- Vietnamese Coconut Caramel Chicken – the chicken version of this recipe
- Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls
- Lemongrass Chicken – one of my favourite things to grill!
- Vietnamese Caramelised Pork Bowls – the super quick version of the above
- Vietnamese Noodle Salad
- 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 1/4 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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Absolutely delicious! We don’t do sugar, so I used brown swerve instead. Turned out great! I was not sure if the swap would work, but the pork was slightly sweet and crispy.
Ok- I messed this dish up- simple to follow, but I put it in a pressure cooker- short for time!- I cooked pork belly for 40 mins, it fell apart. I followed the last steps as per the recipe and it, but there was a fair bit of oil/fat in the bottom of the pot ( I presume that was due to the cut of meat) Kids ate it, they did say it was a bit sweet-I’m curious to try it with another cut of meat next time.
Hi Alex yes pork belly is a slightly fattier cut so that could have been why there was too much fat in the pan. I think this would be done after about 30 minutes in a pressure cooker, if not slightly less ❤️
Sorry though you only add initially 1 tbsp of water for an hour and a half of simmering?
Hello! I’ll making this recipe right now. Do I need to add salt? If so, how much?
Hi Jenny, no I usually list salt if it’s an ingredient. The saltiness in this dish comes from the fish sauce. I hope you love it!
HELLO NAGI,
I AM NEW TO YOUR WEBSITE…ITS AMAZING…I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO COOK FIRST…SO I FINALLY WENT WITH THIS ONE…OMG SO GOOD!!!..MY SON SAID IT IS A KEEPER…THANK YOU
You’re so welcome Lisa!
Does the cook time need to be reduced if using baby back ribs instead of spare ribs? Accidentally bought the wrong kind of meat 🙁 and don’t want it to be dried out
Does the cook time need to be shortened if using baby back ribs instead of spare ribs? Accidentally bought the wrong kind of meat 🙁
Absolutely delicious, flavors were amazing and will definitely be repeating this.
I used beef brisket for this and it tastes great but the meat was a bit hard. Do you think it could be slow braised in the oven then finished off on stove top? Or is ‘velveting’ an option? Appreciate your thoughts Nagi, thanks.
Hi Esther, sounds like it needed to cook a little more to ensure it gets to that fall apart stage. You could definitely slow braise then finish on the store or just cook it slightly longer on the stove (add a little water to keep it cooking and delay the caramelising). – N x
Thanks for answering my query. Found your site only recently and have tried a few of your recipes, and they have been fabulous, tasty and easy. Got my eye on the perfect chocolate cake next. Thanks so much.
I made this today for the first time and really enjoyed it; it’ll definitely be one to make again. The comments in the recipe were helpful as it does look quite unappealing while it cooks, but then it comes together right at the end.
This recipe is SO GOOD! We ended up having to negotiate who get the last couple of pieces because everyone couldn’t get enough of it. Not to mention, it’s so easy to make as well. It’s definitley going on the menu for our next dinner party.
My boys ate all on their plate, believe me that’s praise indeed! Will be doing again. I got all the meat out of the cooking dish, to keep warm while I dished up and as I closed oven door, the timer went off!! How’s that for perfect timing. Thanks for sharing your recipes… I’m sure I couldn’t be so unselfish 😉
First time I ever cooked pork butt. Kept telling myself, “Trust Nagi, she knows.” The result proved the trust is well-deserved. SO GOOD!! Couldn’t believe the transformation from just a few ingredients! Thank you so much.
Yes!!! It doesn’t look like much until it starts caramelising ☺️ I’m so happy you gave it a go!
Nagi – Have I ever made a dish twice in a week because it was so good? The answer is now YES, because I made this again and it turned out even better than the first luscious time, if you can believe that. THANK YOU FOR THIS RECIPE! Shared with about 12 others, several of who have made or are planning to make it soon. YUMMMMMM!
Thankyou for this fantastic recipe. I made it with pork belly, and yes the was alot of fat (skimmed off) but it was so melt-in-the-mouth delicious! Yum yum yum!
Sounds divine Mary!
Hi Nagi! What salad or light vegetable dish would you serve on the side with this?
Hi Mai, I generally serve with rice or noodles and a quick pickled vegetable ☺️
wow! another amazing recipe. Just made this and eating it now- its so incredibly easy and yet so delicious. The pork is indeed tender and it has that yummy sticky caramelly coating.
I just love your website Nagi- every recipe I’ve tried turns out perfectly. I’ve told so many people about it.
Thanks so much Helen, I’m so glad you love it!!
We made this recipe as written and it was delicious! Definitely a keeper
That’s terrific Beth!!
Hi Nagi. The caramel pork looks and sounds delicious. I’m allergic to coconut and seafood, including fish sauce. Would you suggest substituting water or vegetable broth. Can I substitute anything for the fish sauce? I can leave it out too.
Hi Doreen, you could use substitutions but it would taste completely different to the original recipe
You can purchase vegetarian “fysh” sauce, or there are some diy recipes using dried mushrooms and seaweed.