Heo Giả Cầy

Vietnamese Braised Pork

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Cook time: 1 hour prep + 24 hour marinade + 1½ to 2 hours to cook

Heo Giả Cầy is a deeply comforting pork braise fragrant with lemongrass and shrimp paste. My version brings a dash of Louisiana into the mix with Cajun spices and a creamy marinade base. Vietnamese food always has room for adaptation and play: try it out and make it your own!

Ingredients

3½ lbs pork belly
3 lbs pork leg (with skin, bone, and trotter attached)*

* Look for pork leg that is already split or pre-cut: it will be easier to break down. The pork leg can be substituted with more pork belly.

Marinade

5 stalks lemongrass
2 tablespoons five spice powder
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons paprika
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
1 tablespoon turmeric powder
2 tablespoons Special BBQ Spices**
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
4 tablespoons shrimp paste***
½ cup sour cream
½ cup plain Greek yogurt
½ cup mayonnaise

** “Special BBQ Spices” is a blend available at some Asian markets. I use the Kim Tự Tháp brand, which contains lemongrass, paprika, black pepper, and cloves. You can substitute it with extra lemongrass and 1 teaspoon each of paprika, cloves, and MSG.

*** I love the salty pungency of the shrimp paste, but it’s strong, so you may want to start with less. If reducing the shrimp paste, add more salt.

Sear and Braise

Neutral cooking oil, to sear
1 liter coconut water
4-inch piece Galangal, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks

To Serve

Fresh herbs to top (I like cilantro and culantro)
Bread or vermicelli rice noodles

Instructions

To Prep

1. Use a blowtorch to char the skin of the pork leg and the pork belly. (Blowtorching brings the caramelized smokiness of roasting over a fire, but it’s an optional step.)

2. Cut the pork belly into 1-inch pieces, and the pork leg into 2-inch pieces, keeping them separate.

To Marinade

1. Trim half an inch off the bottom of the lemongrass stalks and finely grate 5 inches into a mixing bowl. Set aside the rest of the stalks for braising.

2. Add the rest of the marinade ingredients to the bowl and mix.

3. Split the marinade between the pork belly and pork leg, rub, and let it sit a minimum of 24 hours.

To Sear and Braise

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in a heavy duty pot on low-medium, add. Sear the pork belly in 3 to 4 batches, depending on size of the pot. Set aside.

2. Repeat the same steps with the pork leg and set aside.

3. With the pot on low heat, add 1 cup of coconut water and stir with a wooden spoon to deglaze, to mix the fond (aka the brown bits) into the braise base.

4. Put the pork leg pieces back in the pot. Add the remaining coconut water, galangal pieces, and lemongrass ends. Bring it up to a simmer and cook on low heat, covered, for 45 minutes.

Tip! Wrap the galangal and lemongrass in a cheesecloth or seasoning separation basket so you can remove it easily after braising.

5. Add the pork belly and simmer for another 30 minutes, or until the meat is tender. Taste for salt and serve.

Enjoy it with fresh herbs, alongside a crusty baguette or ladled over vermicelli noodles!

Tester’s Notes:

“Incredibly delicious,” our testers reported. They suggested brightening the flavors with a squirt of lime juice before serving.

https://dumplingadjacent.org/heo-gia-cay-vietnamese-braised-pork

Recipe by Carolyn Nguyen

“My maternal grandparents were from northern Vietnam, where Heo Giả Cầy is a traditional dish. The name means ‘fake civet meat’ — the rich, spicy marinade was once used to tame the gamey flavors of wild civet, a small mammal native to East and South Asia. These days, Heo Giả Cầy is more often a pork braise fragrant with lemongrass and salty shrimp paste; the long, slow simmer in coconut water adds a balancing sweetness. The bone-in pork leg is a bit of a workout to break down, but it brings deep flavor and a lovely bounciness and chew.

“Heo Giả Cầy was a special dish for us when I was growing up, and it’s one of my favorites: it’s what my mom cooks for me now every time I visit home. The sour cream and yogurt was my mom’s clever way of adapting to the ingredients available when she immigrated. Traditionally, the recipe calls for Mẻ, a sour fermented rice that’s common in Vietnamese cooking but was difficult to find here at the time. With enough preparation, Mẻ can be made and stored at home, but this adaptation was her creative and practical solution. The Cajun spices in the marinade celebrate the influence of Southern Louisiana, where I was born and raised.”

CAROLYN NGUYEN is Chef and owner of Revolution Taco in Philadelphia, a taqueria-café that brings a trained-chef approach to tacos, burritos, and bowls inspired by cultures from all over the world. The freshly made corn tortillas are complemented by a collection of seasonally-updated, house-made hot sauces. Born and raised in Louisiana, Carolyn has called Philly home since 2004: she was named an “AAPI Power Player” by Metro Philadelphia in 2024. Revolution Taco’s new outpost opens this spring at Comcast Center and plans for a pop-up restaurant are in the works. Follow Carolyn’s latest creations @revolutiontaco, @carolynsphl and @carolyn.hien