Web Exclusive: Good Eats

There is one cooking technique that lies at the heart of Vietnamese cuisine. You might know it as “braising” or “stewing,” but we Vietnamese people call it “kho.” The word “kho” comes from the Khmer word “khor,” both have the same meaning. Kho is a cooking technique mainly found in Vietnamese and Cambodian cuisine. My dad says, “If you don’t know how to “kho” correctly, then you don’t know the true essence of what Vietnamese food really is.” After several cooks, I realized that he was right. The majority of Vietnamese cuisine revolves around several main ingredients: fish sauce, sugar, and pepper. Without those ingredients, Vietnamese food would be bland and, honestly, tasteless. These ingredients, therefore, form the basis of the “Kho”-ing process.

Another dish that you have probably had or heard of is called “Banh Mi.” With proper Vietnamese punctuation, it would be written as “bánh mì.” The word itself means bread; if you split the word apart, it would mean “wheat cake,” which is essentially what bread is: a wheat cake. We have to credit the French for the creation of this street-food-esque dish. During the mid-19th century, the French introduced the baguette to Vietnam; it quickly became a staple food several years after. In 1950, the term “bánh mì Sài Gòn” or Saigon’s Banh Mi was coined because it was speculated that the dish became popular in Saigon, also known as Ho Chi Minh City in today’s terms. Now, Banh Mi has become a global sensation; so popular, in fact, that I had to make this recipe here.

Putting braising and Banh Mi together, you will get this recipe: braised pork belly Banh Mi. It combines two of Vietnam’s most popular and integral cultural food components. There are other varieties of Banh Mi, but the contrast of sweet and salty in this Banh Mi is what makes it such a good eat. It doesn’t take as long to make as other complex Vietnamese dishes, such as Phở, so giving it a try is always worth it.