Thịt Kho Vietnamese braised pork and eggs in coconut caramel sauce

Published February 14, 2021 Last Modified December 30, 2022 by Vy Tran

Thịt kho is the ultimate Vietnamese comfort food where pork is braised with eggs in a coconut caramel sauce until the meat becomes tender and imbued with a balance of salty, sweet, and umami flavors.

To celebrate Tet or Lunar New Year, I’m sharing a recipe near and dear to my heart, my mom’s thịt kho recipe, or Vietnamese braised pork and eggs in coconut caramel sauce. Thịt kho is a humble, quintessential Vietnamese dish that’s lesser known than pho or goi cuon but is eaten throughout the country. For as long as I could remember, she always cooks this dish for Tet, offering it as part of the feast that goes on the altar for our ancestors. Every family has their own version but I have been making my mom’s recipe for the past twenty years.

Ingredient notes

Fish sauce: some of my favorite brands are Three Crabs, Flying Lion Premium Fish Sauce, and Red Boat Fish Sauce.
Coconut juice: I grew up with a coconut tree in our yard so my mom has always made thịt kho with fresh coconut juice. They’re widely available at the Asian grocery stores. If you can’t find fresh coconut, you can substitute with Rico Coconut Soda.
Eggs: for this recipe use large or extra large eggs. They’ll be braised for 90 minutes and tend to shrink if you use smaller eggs. Some people like to add in quail eggs near the end along with the larger eggs.

How to make the caramel sauce

The caramel sauce is made with a simple mixture of water and sugar. Cook the mixture on medium-low heat and look for the color to change from clear to yellow then dark amber. I usually make a big batch and save it in a glass jar for another time. To learn how to make the caramel sauce, visit my Instagram and look under the Tet highlights. If you’re short on time, you can use pre-made caramel sauce from the Asian grocery stores.

What cut of pork to use

For health reasons, my mom and I use pork shoulder but you can use pork butt or pork belly. The key is to having tasty thịt kho is to use meat with a little fat otherwise the lean meat will end up drying out after being braised for a long time. If you want a bit more fat in your meat, use a mixture of pork belly and pork shoulder in a 1:2 ratio.

Tips for making the best thịt kho

Cut the pork into 1.5 inches wide and 2.5-3 inches long. Keep the size the same so they can cook consistently.
Blanching the meat before you marinate will create less impurities when you cook it.
Marinate the pork and eggs for one hour before cooking for a deeper flavor. This step is completely optional but adds more flavor.
Searing the meat adds flavor to the overall dish. Don’t skip this step.
Cook the meat until it becomes tender. This step usually takes between 75-90 minutes depending on how big your batch is.
For the meat to egg ratio, I like 1 pound of meat to about 4 large eggs. Our boys love eggs so we will add extra eggs for them.
Adjust your seasoning at the end to your liking for the best taste. Either add more fish sauce or sugar. If it's too concentrated, dilute the sauce with a little bit of water.
This dish can be made two days ahead. The flavor will develop and concentrate further as it sits in the fridge.
If you’re just cooking for two or solo, scale the recipe down. The cooking time will be shorter, around 60 minutes instead of 90 minutes.

What to serve thịt kho with

Traditionally thịt kho is served as part of a bigger meal. For Vietnamese, a meal will have a soup, a salty dish, and veggies to be served with rice. We usually eat thịt kho with crunchy pickled bean sprouts, pickled mustard greens, or steamed or sauteed greens like bok choy, gai lan, and even okra. You can pair it with your favorite veggies. During Tet the meat from thịt kho is rolled up with pickled bean sprouts in rice papers and eaten similarly to spring rolls. The sauce from the thịt kho becomes the dipping sauce for the rolls.

I love how tender the pork becomes after braising for 90 minutes. The meat gets caramelized and imbued with a balance of salty, sweet, and umami flavors from the fish sauce, sugar, and coconut juice. The eggs lend a different texture of chewy white with buttery yolk that’s equally delicious. The sauce flavors the rice and greens and brings everything together in one bite. Although thịt kho is known as a classic Vietnamese dish cooked during Tet, we actually make it all year long. Thịt kho, like congee, is the ultimate comfort food that we turn to often for our weeknight meal.

For more Vietnamese food inspiration, you might like these recipes: grilled Vietnamese lemongrass pork ribs, roast lemongrass chicken, Vietnamese shaking beef.

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