My parents or grandma would just throw some knives and knock some pans around and like magicians, they made delicious food appear.

Everyone in the family was lucky to have good food all the time.

A few years after my uncle moved out he visited asking my grandma and asked for this recipe he missed. Even incredibly simple dishes such as Dau Sot Ca remains out of reach until you can find one of those kitchen magicians for tips.

What you need:
-1lb. (0.45kg) firm tofu (okay, you can buy pre-fried tofu, but unless you live near a market or factory that pumps those things out daily, I would avoid pre-packaged fried tofu)
-5 medium, ripe, Roma tomatoes

-1 tablespoon tomato paste
-1/2 teaspoon fish sauce (optional, but you SHOULD!)
-1 teaspoon salt
-2 teaspoons sugar
-1/2 cup water
-oil for deep frying

Prep time: 35 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

Cut the tofu into smaller pieces and dry on paper towels or in a basket over the sink for 20-30 minutes. We want to remove the excess moisture to avoid oil splatter during frying.

I fried these in vegetable oil, keeping the temperature at 300F (148C) using my Polder Thermometer. Let the temperature hit 300F before adding. It should take 2-4 minutes until they brown. Like anyone else in a hot tub, these guys like to bunch together and stick, so move them around a little after adding to the pot.

Cut each tomato into 4 or 8 even pieces each. I’d cut them all into 4ths next time.

Add everything into the pot: tofu, tomatoes, salt, sugar, tomato paste, water, and fish sauce (optional).

Cover with a lid, bring to a boil on high heat, then reduce to 30% heat until the tomatoes are cooked. About 10 minutes total.

For this Dau Sot Ca Chua recipe, you can add a little more tomato paste for more color, or more water if you like it a bit more… saucy. As always, add extra salt or fish sauce to fit your taste. You can also stuff the tofu with meat before adding to the pot. That can wait for a future post.

Top with red chili flakes or freshly ground pepper. Serve with rice.

What you need:
-2.2 lbs. (1 kg) of country style pork ribs
-6 chicken eggs

-1/2 (6 oz.) can coconut soda
-1.5 tablespoons soy sauce
-1.5 tablespoons fish sauce
-2 teaspoons salt
-4 tablespoons sugar for the nuoc mau (caramel). This is add color and a hint of sweetness. Depending on how dark your sauce gets, you may not need all of it. If you don’t want to make the nuoc mau, you can replace the soy sauce used with dark soy sauce for color.

Approximate prep time: 5 minutes
Approximate cook time: 2 hours 10 minutes

Get about 2-3 quarts of water boiling on high heat. You want enough to cover the pork when it is added.

Cut the pork into about 1″ x 1.5″ (2.5cm x 3.8cm) pieces.

After the pot of water is at a boil, add the pork for about 1-2 minutes to clean it of impurities on high heat. We’re not trying to cook it all the way through here. Then, pour out the water and clean the pork and pot under running water. Use your hands! Then, pour out all the water.

Add to the pot: 1/2 a can coconut soda, 1.5 tablespoons soy sauce, 1.5 tablespoons fish sauce, 2 teaspoons salt.

Then fill up the pot until the water just covers the meat. Return to the stove on high heat. When it hits a boil, lower to about 50% heat and set the timer for 2 hours. Make the Nuoc Mau (caramel) and add to the pot.

Next, boil the eggs.

When they are ready, remove the shells, cool, and poke the eggs all over with a fork. About 8 times on each egg.

When there are about 60 minutes left on the timer, add the eggs. Eventually we want the liquid to reduce to half of the original. So when the timer shows 15 minutes left and you have too much liquid, turn the heat up to concentrate it faster.

Serve with rice.

When I was a kid, I used to mash up the yolk and mix it with the rice, then add some broth. Well…nothing has changed except now I put loads of freshly ground pepper on top =].

A note on the seasoning for this thit kho recipe: you can tinker with the soy sauce, fish sauce, and salt after the liquid has finished reducing, adding more to fit your taste buds.