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Vietnamese Braised Dipping Sauce
Rated 5.0 stars by 1 users
Category
Appetizers
Cuisine
Vietnamese
Servings
2
This Vietnamese braised dipping sauce (Kho quẹt) is one of those dishes that’s simple but hits hard. Pork fat is rendered until crispy, then braised with dried shrimp, garlic, chilies, and fish sauce into a thick, salty-sweet sauce that’s meant for dipping. Traditionally served with boiled or fresh vegetables and rice, it’s rich, punchy, and incredibly satisfying. Don’t be surprised if the veggies disappear faster than you planned.
Recipe Source: MMBonAppetit
Ingredients
- ½ lb fatty pork belly or pork fat
- 1/3 cup dried shrimp
- 5 large cloves garlic
- 3-4 shallots
- 2 sprigs fresh green peppercorns (alternative: ½ tbsp black peppercorns)
- 3 bird’s eye chilies (adjust to taste)
-
¼ cup Red Boat Fish Sauce
- 3 tbsp white granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp chili sauce (such as sriracha)
- ¼ cup coconut water
- ½ tsp MSG (optional)
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- 1 stalk green onion
- Vegetables of your choice
Directions
If using pork belly, carefully cut between the skin and fat layer to remove the skin, keeping as much of the fat as possible.
- Cut pork belly/fat into 1-1.5cm pieces.
- Add dried shrimp to a heat-proof bowl and rehydrate with boiling water. Set aside for about 15 minutes, then strain and rinse.
- Peel shallot. Thinly slice half and mince the other half.
- Peel garlic. Thinly slice half and mince the other half.
- Cut to remove stems of bird's eye chilies.
- Cut green onion into ~3cm lengths.
- Place a pan on the stove and add pork belly, along with a splash of water, without turning on the stove.
- Heat the pan on medium high, stirring the pork often. The water will evaporate, and the pork fat will begin to render.
- Fry the pork in its own fat until golden on all sides, this should take about 10-15 minutes.
- Remove the crispy pork pieces to a bowl with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Remove excess fat in the pan, leaving about 2 tablespoons.
- Reduce heat to medium and add the shallot and garlic to the pan. Sweat them until fragrant.
- Add in the shrimp and sauté for 1 minute.
- Add in fish sauce, sugar, chili sauce, coconut water, MSG, and ground black pepper.
- Stir to combine, then add in bird's eye chilies and green peppercorns.
- Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the sauce has thickened.
- In the meantime, prepare and boil vegetables for serving.
- Add the crispy pork to the sauce and stir to combine. Simmer for another 3-5 minutes.
- Remove from heat, top with green onion, and serve with vegetables and rice!
