Xin chào! That's Vietnamese for hello, and today I'm sharing a recipe full of rich, savory flavor - Vietnamese Coconut Braised Pork (Thịt Kho Tàu). I learned this authentic dish from Thanh (Tang), my daughter's Vietnamese friend, during our unforgettable trip to Hanoi.
Jump to:
On our last day there, Thanh hosted us for an authentic Vietnamese meal and cooking class in her home - one of the highlights of our visit. She was a gracious teacher, and we learned so much about real home-style Vietnamese cooking.
Cooking with Thanh in Hanoi
What stood out to me most was how Vietnamese cooks use intuition - no measuring cups, just "eyeballing" and comparing quantities to familiar objects. During our session, we made four dishes, but Thanh's favorite - and now mine - was this coconut braised pork.
Despite its deep, complex flavor, this dish is surprisingly easy to make. The key is to brown the pork well before simmering it gently in coconut water with palm sugar and spices.
The Secret Ingredient: Palm Sugar
Palm sugar is what gives this dish its beautiful caramelized sweetness. I brought some home from the market in Hanoi, but brown sugar or a mix of brown sugar and molasses works great as substitutes.
Thanh also taught me a fun twist - sautéing hard-boiled eggs until golden before adding them to the braise. It gives them an extra layer of flavor and color that makes the dish shine.
And yes - we had plenty of laughs in the kitchen. When Thanh's mom came home and saw my husband sweeping, she told her daughter (in Vietnamese): "You need to find a husband like that!" We all had a good laugh.
All things considered, I think the recipe turned out great, at least according to my husband and son. Too bad Thanh is not here to give me her seal of approval.
Here are the visual steps to make Thįt Kho Tàu:
- Step 1: Gather all your ingredients and have them chopped, measured, and ready to go.
- Step 2: Place the 4 eggs in a pan with cold water to cover them and bring to a boil. Allow to boil for 6 minutes.
- Step 3: Remove from the water with a slotted spoon and drop them into an ice bath, and set them aside.
- Step 4: In a large braising pan on medium heat, sauté the pork with the shallots, garlic, palm sugar, 5 spice powder and palm sugar. Allow the palm sugar to caramelize slightly. Brown the pork on all sides.
- Step 5: Add the soy sauce after the pork is browned.
- Step 6: Add the fish sauce.
- Step 7: Add the coconut water, and the pan will deglaze. Cover and turn down the heat to low and simmer for 30-40 minutes. Now would be a good time to peel those eggs and make the rice.
- Step 8: After 25 minutes, add the peeled eggs and allow them to simmer in the juice for an additional 5 minutes. You can turn the eggs so they brown evenly in the juice. When ready to serve, sprinkle with chopped cilantro. Serve with rice and fresh greens on the side. Enjoy!
Vietnamese Recipes You'll Love
If you're craving more authentic Vietnamese flavors, try these reader favorites next:
Bun cha: Vietnamese pork meatballs are served with a delicious golden broth, a variety of fresh herbs, greens, and rice noodles.
During the hot summer months a nice cool Vietnamese Beef Noodle Salad: Pho Tron is very popular.
You have to finish off your meal with a traditional Vietnamese Egg Coffee or ca phe trung (cà phê trứng) is a Hanoi espresso with a sweet meringue-like topping.
Bun Thit Nuong: Vietnamese Grilled Pork Noodles - Tender grilled lemongrass pork is paired with cool rice noodles, herbs, veggies, and a tangy nuoc cham sauce.
Vietnamese Coconut Coffee - This was one of my daughter's favorite summer treats when she lived in Vietnam. Coconut replaces milk in this dish.
📖 Recipe
Vietnamese Coconut Braised Pork - Thit Kho Tau
Ingredients
- 2 lbs pork belly cut into 1" cubes
- ½ teaspoon 5 spice powder
- 2 shallots minced
- 3-4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 teaspoon palm sugar
- 3 tablespoon soy sauce
- 3 tablespoon fish sauce
- 11.8 oz coconut water (1 can)
- 4 hard boiled eggs
- cilantro for garnish
- 1 cup rice steamed
Instructions
- To prepare the eggs, place them in a pot with cold water and bring to a boil. Allow the water to boil for 6 minutes. Remove from heat and place the eggs in a container with cold water and ice so they are easy to peel. Set them aside.
- On medium heat saute the pork belly with the shallots, 5 spice powder, garlic and palm sugar, and allow the sugar to caramelize slightly.
- Pour in the soy sauce, fish sauce, and the coconut water. Turn down the heat, cover and simmer for about 30-40 minutes. Place the eggs in the stew for an additional 5 minutes.
- Serve with steamed rice and garnish with chopped cilantro.
Nutrition
Ashley @ Big Flavors from a Tiny Kitchen says
I adore Vietnamese food! Love the mix of pork and coconut here. Looks absolutely delicious!
Analida says
Thanks so much Ashley!
J-Mom says
This was really delicious. I did end up using pork shoulder roast meat since belly meat is difficult to get where I live. Served it on jasmine rice.
Analida says
Hi there! I am so glad you liked it. I have a few more Vietnamese recipes coming down the pipes, so stay tuned! For some reason pork belly is becoming difficult to get and expensive too.
Sasha @ Eat Love Eat says
I've not much experience with Vietnamese, this looks tasty!
Analida says
Sasha, Vietnamese food is not hard to make. It's all about establishing a balance of flavors. You also need a few things in your kitchen. I will have more Vietnamese recipes in the coming months. Stay tuned.
Abra says
I've never made pork belly at home, this dish looks so yummy!
Analida says
Thanks! If you can't find pork belly you can use a fatty cut of pork meat.
Chef Dennis says
I love Asian food so much! And this Vietnamese Coconut Braised Pork looks really delicious. I'm totally sure my family will love this ,too.
Anna says
I fell in love with Vietnamese cuisine when we visited this country couple of years ago. The flavours and ingredients are utterly delicious, and can be prepared relatively quickly. Your braised pork looks very flavoursome, love all the step-by-step photos too!
Lizzy says
thanks for breaking down this traditional Vietnamese recipe for us, your instructions make it so simple! I can't wait to try.
Julie says
This looks delicious! I know this is an annoying question because you haven't tried it yourself, but do you think the flavors would work as well on a less-fatty cut of pork? My husband doesn't like pork belly, so I'm thinking about trying to adapt it to some heritage pork chops, which are fattier than commercial lean pork chops, but definitely not as much as pork belly. We have so much coconut water I need to use up right now, haha!
Analida says
Hi Julie, I have make this with sliced chunks of pork shoulder and pork belly and it turns out great! Boneless chops would work well too. Enjoy!
Aline says
Wow! This looks great! I never cooked Vietnamese food before, but I need to make this ASAP - my family will love it!
Jenni LeBaron says
This Vietnamese coconut braised pork recipe sounds delicious! I love the use of 5 spice powder and fish sauce in this. Those flavors sound just perfect together!
Shelley says
Oh my goodness, this looks just amazing, and I'm so jealous to read about your wonderful trip and personal cooking lesson - how absolutely wonderful! I was so intrigued, reading about this dish, but especially about sauteeing whole hard-boiled eggs - I'd honestly never heard of that before! Thank you for sharing your experiences, and this fabulous recipe! Great post!
Kate says
This looks really delicious and not too hard to make so I am dying to try it! I will have to track down some palm sugar 🙂
Marisa F. Stewart says
I'm not really familiar with Vietnamese cuisine - it sounds very tasty!! We do eat quite a bit of pork and the way this is prepared certainly sounds very flavorful and satisfying. Discovering new foods is always exciting. Will definitely try out this recipe.
Daniela says
Yum this pork sounds so flavorful! And your in process shots make following the recipe so easy :).
Amy says
Wow this looks incredible! I love how easy you made this look to put together. I font gave a lot of experience cooking Vietnamese dishes so I appreciate the step-by-step pictures. I can’t wait to give this meal a try!
Ben says
Holy moly! That recipe looks amazing. I'm a huge fan of Asian food, but where I live, that means Japanese or Chinese. I have never in my life had any sort of Vietnamese food. Those flavors sound awesome. I'm making this.
Kelly Anthony says
Making Vietnamese food has always been a little intimidating to me but your recipe makes it look simple and has me excited to try something new.
Jess says
Oh wow! This pork looks and sounds so amazing! I have got to try! Yummy!
Heather says
I love all the flavors going on in this dish. And thank you for the substitute on using palm sugar! Can you use a different cut of pork? I’d love to try it!
Analida says
Hi Heather, Sure you can use small cubes of pork shoulder for this dish also. Enjoy!
GUNJAN C Dudani says
Absolutely amazing. I was wondering if I can substitute pork with chicken. Will it still taste the same?
Analida says
I have never made it that way but give it a try. I bet it would be delicious and a little less fatty.
shobee says
This recipe is almost similar to our Filipino Adobo minus the vinegar. I want to try it and see if it has some similarities to our Filipino dish, as Asian meals are almost similar to each other.
Tammy says
Sounds absolutely delicious!! I want to make this so badly....what a fabulous recipe!
Amanda Mason says
Eyeballing ingredients is key for sure! I love how this recipe brought everyone to the kitchen to cook! Great picture and memories above! I've never ventured out to making anything like this so I cant wait to try it!
Cathleen @ A Taste of Madness says
Okay, so I just ate dinner, but wished I had this instead! This looks like the perfect dinner recipe 🙂
Claire | The Simple, Sweet Life says
This sounds melt-in-your-mouth good! And your step-by-step instructions make it sound so easy, too. Can't wait to give it a try!
christine says
Made this for my husband tonight and it was amazing and delicious. I cooked the rice in coconut water also and added orange pepper, snow peas and bok choy.
Analida says
That sounds fabulous! Thanks for sharing!
Nguyễn says
Yout recipe is nearly perfect but i have some suggests:
-We prefer to use normal pot than wok
- It may sound weird but a good thit kho tau dish usually has a cockroach wings color and some shiny patterns from fat. You can get it just by give the dish more time to cook(45-60 minutes)
Analida says
Thanks Nguyen! I love those suggestions!
Lamyku says
Good recipe, easy to follow and taste delicious
I used pork blade steak and brown sugar instead. I love the recipe using coconut water to make the sauce.
Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Analida says
This is one of my favorite Vietnamese dishes. I even order it at restaurants even though I make it at home! Thanks for the rating!
Claire says
I found this on pinterest and it sounded very like a dish I had while travelling (which I can't remember the name of!) So I had to try and make it. This was amazing! So full of flavor and my husband ate two big portions! It wasn't the same as we had while travelling but I think this was better.
Analida says
Thanks Claire for your kind words. This is definitely one of those recipes that has very unique and distinct flavor. I am so glad you and your husband enjoyed it!