This braise is rich and generous, the trotter falling apart while the young jackfruit soaks up coconut milk and turns sweet and starchy. It is a central Vietnamese braise that disappears fast with hot rice. The hard part is keeping the jackfruit from breaking down over a long braise.
Cutting the jackfruit into wide pieces and blanching them for 5 minutes before a cold rinse is what holds their shape. The pot needs a bare simmer, since high heat splits the coconut milk and catches on the bottom.
This batch weighs about 1.7kg, at roughly 171 calories per 100g.
Method
Peel 500g young jackfruit, cut it into wide pieces, rinse, then boil for 5 minutes and rinse again in cold water. Wash 500g pork trotter thoroughly with coarse salt and drain.
Pound the shallot, garlic, chili and pepper to a paste. Use half of it to marinate the trotter along with 1 teaspoon MSG, 1 teaspoon kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 1 teaspoon seasoning powder, 1 teaspoon shrimp sate chili paste and 2 tablespoons fish sauce. Soak 200g grated coconut in boiling water and press out 500ml coconut milk.
Fry the remaining half of the shallot, garlic and chili paste until fragrant, add the marinated trotter and sear until firm. Once the meat is firm, add the young jackfruit, pour in 500ml coconut milk to cover, lower the heat and braise for about 20 minutes.
Cover and simmer gently until the jackfruit and meat are tender, add 100ml coconut water and season again with 1 teaspoon seasoning powder, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon kOBE Monk Fruit Blend. Turn off the heat once everything is tender and the coconut milk has nearly reduced away.
Spoon onto a plate and serve hot with rice.
Tips
Wide pieces of jackfruit hold together through a long braise.
A quick blanch and a cold rinse soften the jackfruit and take away its sap.
A little cooking oil rubbed onto the hands before peeling young jackfruit keeps the sap from sticking.
A bare simmer with minimal stirring is right, as heavy stirring breaks the jackfruit apart.
kOBE Monk Fruit Blend dissolves slowly, so toss the trotter again 5 minutes after the marinade goes on.
Once the coconut milk has nearly reduced away the heat goes off, since a longer braise splits it and turns the dish heavy.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.