Vietnamese Braised Pork In Coconut - cooking recipe

Ingredients

2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons cold water
1 (14 ounce) can coconut juice (See Note)
3 tablespoons vietnamese fish sauce (nuoc mam)
4 shallots, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 hardboiled egg, peeled and cut into wedges
1/2 lb pork shoulder, with some fat,cut into 1 inch cubes

Preparation

In a clay pot or large saucepan, stir together the sugar and water.
Over low heat, cook until it's a golden color, 5 to 10 minutes; watch closely, since as soon as the color begins to change, the sugar mixture can darken very quickly and burn.
Remove from heat.
Carefully stir in the coconut juice and fish sauce-- there may be a little spattering.
Return to very low heat and stir until well blended, scraping up any caramelized pieces stuck to bottom of pan.
Stir in the pork.
Then stir in the shallots, ginger and five-spice powder.
Simmer, partially covered, until pork is very tender, about 2 hours, stirring from time to time and checking to make sure liquid is not simmering too hard.
When done, stir in the pepper.
To serve, bring the clay pot to the table and serve from that, or spoon the stew into bowls.
Garnish with the wedges of hard-cooked egg.
Note: Do not substitute coconut milk.