Thai-style Braised Pork Cheeks Recipe

By
Chichi Wang
Chichi Wang: Contributing Writer at Serious Eats
Chichi Wang

Chichi Wang wrote a variety of columns for Serious Eats including The Butcher's Cuts, in addition to other stories. Born in Shanghai and raised in New Mexico, Chichi took her degree in philosophy but decided that writing about food would be more fun than writing about Plato.

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Updated Sep. 21, 2020
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Chichi Wang

Recipe Details

Thai-style Braised Pork Cheeks Recipe

Active 20 mins
Total 3 hrs 20 mins
Serves 6 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds pork cheeks

  • 2/3 cup dark soy sauce

  • 1/4 cup fish sauce

  • 1/3 cup rice wine

  • 1 ounce palm sugar

  • 1 stick cinnamon

  • 3 to 6 bird's eye chiles

To Garnish:

  • Freshly cut herbs, such as thai basil, cilantro, or scallions

  • Fried shallots

  • Toasted shredded coconut

Directions

  1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 300°F. Place cheeks in pot or braising pan. The cheeks should cover the surface of the vessel. Add enough water so that cheeks are halfway submerged. Add add soy sauce, fish sauce, rice wine, sugar, cinnamon, and chiles to pot. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to simmer. Cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid or aluminum foil. Transfer to oven and cook until very tender, about 2 hours.

  2. De-fat the mixture, either by skimming off the liquid fat or refrigerating the meat and letting the fat solidify on the top. Remove meat from liquid and gently break into bite-sized chunks (meat will be very tender). Heat sauce in a medium saucepan and cook until reduced to about 1/3 cup. Sauce should be rich and syrupy. Return meat to sauce and heat through. Serve immediately, garnished with herbs and fried shallots. Serve with rice.

Special equipment

3 quart saute pan or braising pot, or other non-reactive container such a Pyrex baking dish

This Recipe Appears In

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
320 Calories
16g Fat
7g Carbs
31g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 6
Amount per serving
Calories 320
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 16g 21%
Saturated Fat 6g 29%
Cholesterol 100mg 33%
Sodium 1005mg 44%
Total Carbohydrate 7g 3%
Dietary Fiber 1g 2%
Total Sugars 5g
Protein 31g
Vitamin C 1mg 5%
Calcium 38mg 3%
Iron 2mg 9%
Potassium 473mg 10%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)