Five Spice and Soy Braised Pork with Hardboiled Eggs is a dish near and dear to my heart. I think there are several variations of this dish and I am pretty sure they originated from China. In Vietnam it is called Thit Kho Trung. In Thailand it is called Moo Pa-Loh. In Malaysia it is called Tau Yu Bak. In Japan it is called Buta Kakuni. In Chinese it is called Dong Po Rou. I suspect the Filipino Adodo also originated from China.
When I decided on becoming semi-vegetarian, I couldn’t live without this dish. Over the years I have worked on an alternative using chicken instead of pork belly. To this day I still make it with chicken instead of pork even though I now eat pork. (Stay tuned for the pork belly version.) My mom made this using either pork belly (she calls it three-layer pork) or pork shanks. The pork shanks make this very gelatinous. The chicken is not quite as delicious as the pork belly but the trade off is a lower calorie and fat dish that is still very satisfying. I attribute my low cholesterol and blood pressure levels to both my genes and years of red meat-free diet. My cholesterol levels have increased a bit since I started adding red meat back in my diet.
I’ve experimented with several different chicken parts. White meat works but it must not be cooked very long. Ideally a whole chicken works best but I’ve done this with chicken drumsticks or thighs. I’ve gotten a bit lazy over the years. I like buying pre-fabricated pieces instead of whole chicken and fish. I have been trained on butchering and can cut up a chicken perfectly in less than 5 minutes. Today, after picking up my knives at Sur la Table, I stopped by the store and purchased a whole chicken. (It is the annual spring cutlery event at Sur la Table and they will sharpen two knives for free.) My boning knife is now sharp again. You ask why I don’t sharpen my own knives? I’m not very good at it. The steel that comes with your knife set is only for honing. It doesn’t actually sharpen it. Ideally knives should be sharpened using a stone. I tried learning but I never got the angle correct. I can hone a knife.
I’m trying to cook smaller amounts of food. I find that I was too much. I cook like I have five kids.
3 tablespoons Sugar
2 tablespoons Oil
½ onion, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ chicken, cut into small pieces (My chicken was super duper huge, weighing over 5 pounds. I used the wings, drumsticks, and thighs. I deboned the drumsticks and thighs but did not toss the bones. I cooked the bones in the liquid and discarded after the simmering.)
2 tablespoons Chinese five spice powder
1 star anise
1 Chinese black cardamom
1 cinnamon stick
1 piece dried galangal root
2 kaffir lime leaves
1 5 inch section lemon grass
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
msg, to taste
water, to cover
6 hardboiled eggs
1. Heat sugar in a large dutch oven until caramelized. Add oil, onions, and garlic. Cook a few seconds. Add chicken pieces and brown. Add the rest of the ingredients except for eggs.
2. Bring to a boil and lower heat to simmer. Add eggs. Simmer until tender. I like to baste the eggs with the cooking liquid.
3. Remove lemon grass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, cardamom, star anise, and cinnamon stick before serving.
I like it served on top of hot jasmine rice. I mash the eggs up and mix them in with the rice and broth. For me it is all about the egg and the broth. The meat is only for flavoring.
I think the star anise and the black (Chinese) cardamon are the stars of this dish.
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