Thai Five-Spice Braised Pork and Eggs
Quick answer
- Total time
- 90 min
- Level
- Medium
- Servings
- 4 servings
- Ingredients
- 7
About this dish
Five-spice powder, with its cinnamon and star anise, perfumes the soy broth, which sets moo palo apart from a plain soy braise even though both turn the same deep brown.
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Thai home cooks simmer pork and boiled eggs together for a long time and ladle the braise over warm rice with plenty of broth.
Ingredients
Instructions
- 1
Cut 650 g pork shoulder into large 4 to 5 cm chunks so it holds shape during braising.
Lightly crush 6 garlic cloves, then peel 5 boiled eggs and pat them dry so the sauce coats evenly.
- 2
Put 1.5 tablespoons palm sugar in a heavy pot over medium-low heat.
Let it melt gently, swirling the pot instead of stirring hard, until it becomes a light brown syrup without dark burnt patches.
- 3
When the syrup has color, add the pork and crushed garlic, then cook over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes.
Stir to coat every side, stopping once the meat looks glossy and brown on the surface.
- 4
Add 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 teaspoon five-spice powder, and 700 ml water, scraping the pot bottom to dissolve the caramel.
Once it starts to boil, lower the heat so the liquid barely bubbles.
- 5
Braise over low heat for 50 minutes with the lid slightly open.
Turn the pork once or twice and lower the heat further if the liquid reduces too quickly.
- 6
Add the boiled eggs and braise gently for 15 more minutes, turning them once so they stain evenly.
Serve when the eggs are evenly brown and the pork is tender enough to pierce easily with chopsticks.
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