“This is what my kid calls this recipe”.
Classic.
Substitutions
- Palm sugar >>> Brown sugar (she does mention that this is ok)
- Thai chilis>>> Serrano chile (again she mentions this)
Annoyances
- You need to melt the palm sugar (or brown sugar in my case) until it turns into caramel. Then you add the (cold) fish sauce. She does give a caveat that it may seize, which obviously it did because you’re putting a cold liquid into a hot caramel. Then you are meant to return it to low heat and cook until it’s smooth. So my house stunk of fish sauce because it had to cook for at least half an hour until all the hard caramelized bits were dissolved. Suffice it to say this was not my favorite.
- Ugh….I’m tired of searing meat in crackling oil. It feels very dramatic.
- It cooks for 15, then 70, then 30 minutes. 115 minutes. That’s too many minutes.
Wins
- It did produce sweet, tender pork in a a delicious sauce.
- My husband said he’d pay $14 for this dish in Seattle and feel like it was worth it. So there’s that.
Overall
- Its too much work for someone with a 7 mo. old with a brand new tooth (!)
- 5/10, will not make again
Rachael Cooking 