Sườn Heo Ram Trứng (Caramelized Pork Ribs with Hard Boiled Eggs)

The area where I live is surrounded by farm land. You can see the lush vineyards driving along the perimeter of the area. There are fruit stands, cows, horses, fresh-chicken-eggs-for-sale signs all around. To be able to escape, even momentarily, from the fast-paced urban lifestyle and come home to a pastoral surroundings of growing fruits, vegetables, and livestock to me is the simple life I've always wanted. It allows an opportunity for my daughters to be close to nature by spending more time outdoors. 

It's nice to be able to cook meals with our homegrown vegetables and fresh home raised chicken eggs. Whenever we have so many eggs, I like to boil them, peel the shells off and cook them with ribs in caramelized sauce.

Caramelized pork ribs is one of many classic dishes of Vietnamese home-cooking at its best. The ribs are set to slow cook until the sauce is reduced to a viscous, flavor-packed glaze over the succulent meat.  The wonderful aroma of caramelized shallot, garlic, fish sauce, and ribs while simmering on the stove making you yearn for the meal to come quickly.

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RECIPE: Sườn Heo Ram Trứng

printable recipe

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Ingredients

2.5-3 pounds pork spare ribs or baby back ribs, 

ask the butcher to cut crosswise through the bone into 

long strips 1-1/2 to 2 inches wide

6-8 hard boiled eggs

about 2-3 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup fish sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup Coco Rico soda or coconut water, optional

3 large shallots, thinly sliced

1 whole garlic, finely minced

1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
3-4 red chili peppers, optional
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Directions

Preparing Ribs

In this recipe, I use baby back ribs, but you could also use pork short rib or riblets, or even pork shoulder.

Par-boiling ribs: fill a pot with water and bring to a boil. Add ribs to boiling water. The water should be enough to just cover top of ribs. Blanch ribs until water is boiling again to remove any impurities. Remove ribs from boiling water. Rinse and drain. You may skip this process if you know your meat is fresh.  Most of the time, I don't parboil the meat unless I use it to make stock.

Cut ribs into bite sized pieces.

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Caramelized Ribs and Eggs

Place a large skillet over medium heat. Add oil, sugar, garlic, and shallot over the oil. Cook until garlic and shallot start to turn brown.

Add the ribs, stirring occasionally, for a couple minutes.  Add fish sauce, Coco Rico or coconut water if used, fresh cracked black pepper, and red chili peppers, if used.  Mix it well then add eggs. Reduce the heat to low, cover the skillet with a lid, let simmer to reduce the juice for about 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

meat without par-boiling

Caramelized pork ribs and eggs are almost done when the juice has been absorbed, and what left is the fat oil from ribs. Let it cook for another couple minutes until the ribs are browned and eggs are coated with a beautiful amber color and the rib bones become soft enough that you can even chew on it.  

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Presentation

Serve this delicious caramelized pork ribs and eggs with jasmine steamed rice and a side dish of  fresh cold crispy cucumber slices on a hot day or a warm steamed vegetable dish on a chill day.  

Eat well. Stay hungry!

Sửa Soạn Cơm Tối Trong 30 Phút (30 Minutes Meal)

Great news! The Saucey Sauce Co contacted me to test out their products and I said yes!  It took me a couple weeks staring at these sauce bottles and conjuring up recipes for them.

One morning the idea came to me as my kids and I were harvesting eggplants in our vegetable garden.  After tasting all four bottle of sauces, I knew what I would create for dinner. Within 30 minutes, I was able to prepare 4 dishes using the 4 types of sauce they had sent me.

Having the pre-made sauces on-hand made cooking easier and quicker. For those who don't have much time to create your own sauces, I would invite you to look into The Saucey Sauce company as I think it's a great resource for your cooking and dinning needs.

So, if you want to purchase any product from Saucey Sauce after reading the post, click here and  use the discount code VIETSPICES for 25% off and VIETSPICES2 to get free shipping for any orders over $35.

Disclaimer: I do not benefit in any way other than what the company offers to my readers: 25% discount on your total purchase.

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RECIPES

Ingredients

Spicy Garlic Sauce

Brown Sugar Ginger Glaze Sauce

Fresh Lemon Sauce

Sweet Ginger Sauce
Pork Chops
Eggplants
Romaine Lettuce

Strawberries
Tangerine Canned
Sesame Oil

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Pan-Fried Spicy Garlic Pork Chops

I marinated the pork chops in two of the sauces: spice garlic and brown sugar ginger glaze.  The Spicy garlic pork chop is my husband's favorite. He loves the spicy, sweet, salty, and deep garlicky flavors that has penetrated the meat. The chops were really tender.

Directions

Marinate pork chops with a good amount of spicy garlic sauce.  It would be better if you can marinate it for at least an hour or better yet overnight, but in case you don't have enough time, 10 minutes of marinating is reasonable for a quick meal.

If frying, drizzle some oil in a frying pan and heat it up to medium heat. When oil is hot, add pork.

Cover the pan while frying except when it's time to flip. Remove the lid toward the end to clear the steam. Fry for another minute before removing the meat.

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Pan-Fried Brown Sugar Ginger Glaze Pork Chops

Brown sugar ginger glaze sauce was used in the second dish of pork chops.  The pork chops turned out tasty as well.  My kids enjoyed it more than the spicy garlic flavor as it's not as spicy for them.

Directions

Marinate pork chops with a generous amount of brown sugar ginger glaze sauce.  Sprinkle a dash of ground pepper if preferred. Marinate as directed previously and proceed as instructed in the above recipe.  

If frying, drizzle some oil in a frying pan and heat it up at medium heat. When oil is hot, add pork.

Cover the pan while frying except when it's time to flip. Remove the lid toward the end to clear the steam. Fry for another minute before removing the meat.

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Fruity Salad with Fresh Lemon Sauce

I didn't have time to go grocery shopping, so I used everything that I can find in my vegetable garden, pantry, and fridge to prepare for  this dinner. Fruity salad was made with canned tangerine, fresh strawberries, lettuce, sesame oil, and fresh lemon sauce. It was a wonderful delight. We enjoyed it so much that we had it again the next day.  

Directions

In a large bowl,  add chopped romaine lettuce, a can of tangerine (discard the syrup), chopped strawberries, half a tablespoon of sesame oil, and fresh lemon sauce. The sweet ginger sauce also makes a great salad dressing if so desired.   Toss and serve immediately.

sweet ginger sauce also makes great salad dressing
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Baked Eggplants with Sweet Ginger Sauce

Eggplant is one of those vegetables in which being slightly under-cooked will not taste good. It has to be completely cooked until it's soft, smooth, and creamy.   My first attempt was to bake the eggplants in whole then peeled off the skin.  Drizzled the sweet ginger over the flesh of the eggpants.  This sweet ginger sauce goes really well with baked eggplants.  

My second attempt was cutting the eggplants into a half inch round pieces with skin on, then baked them. Although baking or grilling eggplants with skin-on will keep them intact, I didn't like the skin-on that much as it's kinda tough to chew. It took away the soft, smooth and creamy of the eggplants. So if you want the best texture of eggplant, peel it. You can also partially peeled them as well for a combo texture result.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.

Slice eggplants into half inch slices. Place the cut eggplants on a baking sheet lined with paper towels.  Sprinkle a good amount of kosher salt on top of the eggplants. Salting helps draw out the extra water so the baked eggplants will turn out less watery and mushy. It also prevents the eggplants from soaking up too much oil. 

After 10 minutes. you will see beads of water forming. 

Discard the excess water then pat the eggplant slices with paper towels to dry. Be careful not to squeeze too hard and crush the eggplant.

You can skip this salting of the eggplants step if you're in a hurry. 

Place eggplant slices in a single layer on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Brush each slice with the olive oil.  Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until soft and golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool. When cool, drizzle with sweet ginger sauce.

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Presentation

It's time to bring out the food and enjoy an outdoor dinner before the Autumn arrives. Enjoy these dishes with the sauces on the side as dipping sauce.