Porc au Caramel

Porc au Caramel

When I was a student in Paris, I used to go to this little Vietnamese takeaway in the Latin Quarter (next to the Chinese restaurant Mirama in rue St. Jacques) for a portion of freshly-cooked Porc au Caramel. That would make up a weekly indulgence (usually to decide between this and Mirama's roast duck), the budget being pretty tight in those days.

I wished ever since that I've kept a tighter eye on her when she was preparing the dish, as in my memory hers tasted better than most of the others I would get my tongue on in the following years.

Myself, I cook the dish in different ways depending on my mood e.g. with or without soy sauce, with ginger or without, with 5-spice powder or not at all...

Whatever it is, Pork in Caramel Sauce is a sweet and salty dish that goes beautifully with steamed jasmine rice and a cold glass of sweetened lime juice.

Method 1 :

Lean Pork (sliced thinly)

Garlic (optional)

Onion (optional)

Ginger (optional)

5-spice powder (optional)

Nuoc mam (fish sauce)

Soy Sauce (optional)

Brown or white Sugar

Corn starch (optional)

Slice the pork thinly and marinate it for a few hours in some soy sauce (if using it), a touch of 5-spice powder and nuoc mam. In a small bowl, mix more nuoc mam and soy sauce together and set aside.

Heat up the sugar in a sauce pan till it starts to turn brown. Add in some water to make a caramel.

Heat up some oil in a wok and brown the ginger, garlic and onions. Add in the marinated pork slices and stir fry for a few minutes. Pour in the nuoc mam (and soy sauce) and simmer the pork in it. Finally add in the caramel and mix well, coating the pork slices in it and simmer for another few minutes. Just before serving, add in some cornstarch (dissolved in some water) mixture to thicken the sauce if you wish.

Another method would be to marinate the pork for a few hours as in Method 1. Then brown some ginger and garlic in a little oil and fry the marinated pork in the fragrant oil till just cooked. Remove and set aside.

In the same wok, heat up 2 Tbsp of oil and add in 2-3 Tbsp of sugar. Keep stirring with a pair of chopsticks or a spoon till the sugar has dissolved and turns a light brown. Return the pork to the wok and stir-fry for a few minutes, taking care to mix the pork well with the caramel. It should sizzle and turn a darker brown. Serve hot.