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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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?
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?
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.
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 ☺️
I am happy you enjoyed it Lynda and Dozer says thanks!! N x
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.
Oh wow! I am glad that you are ok!!! N x
Is there a substitute for coconut..I’m allergic..thankyou
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!
Me too
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.✅
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?
OMG. Amazing – each time I think you can’t out for the last recipe and boom, I’m blown away again. This is so delicious. Thank you!
*out do
Made it and loved it! We served it with cilantro and butter lettuce (and rice obviously). So good!
Nagi I am having buyers remorse. Went to get the pork shoulder for this recipe and the butcher convinced me the pork tenderloin would be better for it and I listened :(. I’m having people over tomorrow and was going to make this recipe and am now stressing. Is it going to turn out bad now because of the cut of meat Ive bought?
Hi Leah – you might need a new butcher! He’s sold you that because it’s more expensive. If you see my note 1B you’ll see that you can’t use tenderloin for this – it’s a slow cooked dish and needs shoulder or neck. I would take it back to him and tell him you want to exchange it! N x
Thank you. Ended up freezing the tenderloin and buying the pork shoulder and it was delicious. Made the massaman lamb shanks to go a long with and they were perfect as well.
Making you bacon wrapped pork tenderloin tonight!
So good, and simple. I was a bit worried at first as the smell was so strong. But toward the last 30 mins you can smell how delicious it tasted. This recipe was a hit with all my 3 little ones and my husband who is not really a fan of pork. Will make again.
Sorry forgot to add 5 stars! Thanks Nga!
I made this with 3 other of your recipes for guests. Coconut rice, Asian Slaw and Garlic spinach. Everything was amazing! I doubled the recipe and found that the coconut water was too much. After 90 minutes of cooking I removed about 1+ cup of liquid, kept cooking and then it caramelized beautifully. I love your recipes and you have been my go-to site for the last several months.
Great recipe. The family loved it.
With a bigger serving (9 persons) the coconut waters adds up a bit too much). –> reduce to 90% (max 800 ml instead of 885). Cheers
Just made this tonight after being out all day , so easy and relaxed way of cooking. Put everything in the pot sit back and relax . We had ours with Asia salad OMG!!! The pork was so tender and flavour was amazing . You are right it goes from something that does not look appetising to a very delicious meal. You are a gem thank you .
Doubled the recipe to have leftovers….came out perfect.
Great flavor. Will definitely make this again
Hi Nagi. I have followed you forever and love your recipes and your spirit. I love that your recipes are being included in in Good Food.
When using pork belly for this recipe, how do you finish the fat side of the pork belly?
Hi Bonnie – if you are using cubed pork belly it should be finished on all sides once you have reduced it down at the end. N x
Oh my goodness. Where do l start! This was amazing! Served it with plain rice and Nagi’s Asian slaw as per her suggestions. Super easy to make but be warned, it smells so UNBELIEVABLY GOOD that for the last hour, my nose kept trying to convince my brain that l was STARVING and would absolutely DIE from hunger if l didn’t throw away the uncooked pork and just drink the broth. So glad l managed to make it to the end as it was well worth it.
Hi there – love the recipe. How can I make this ahead?! I’d like to freeze and serve around the holidays. Thank you!
Hi Nagi, just come across your website, which will now be my go to website for recipes. I’ve made the caramalised pork,and used pork belly. You didn’t specify whether to leave the skin on. So I removed it and made pork scratchings, but I think that didn’t leave enough fat in to do the pork full justice. Would you leave the skin on?
Just made your chocolate cake for a friends birthday cake; a big hit with all who ate it. Thanks
Hi Marlene – in the ingredients list it specifies boneless skinless pork belly. You do need to leave the fat layer on there if you skin the pork yourself. N x
Hi Nagi & Dozer
I made your Vietnamese Caramel Pork last night and it was to die for. Another dish I would like to see in the Cookbook. ♥️♥️ 🐶🐶
So glad you enjoyed it, Diane! N x