Greenpointers is launching a new weekly feature called “Community Cookbook.” Every week, we’ll speak to a local business or community member with a delicious recipe to offer. We’re always soliciting submissions, so if you have a recipe you’d like to share with the neighborhood, we’d love to hear from you at editor@greenpointers.com!
When High Lúa Vietnamese Kitchen reached out to see if Greenpointers wanted to try one of their new test kits, I jumped at the chance. I’ve been a High Lúa fan for a while, their banh mi and noodle bowls having sustained many a workday for me.
“High Lúa was est. since 2019 and our passion is to continue to achieve and introduce more authentic Vietnamese dishes for everyone’s experience,” said Tri Pham via email, “We believe that food is the soul to learning and experiencing any cultures. We strongly take pride in all our dishes with a hint of love.”
The test kit is being released in honor of Tet, or Vietnamese Lunar New Year. You can order one here until February 6.
The test kit comes with two recipes – Caramelized Pork Belly and Eggs and a Bitter Melon Soup.
I first tried out the Caramelized Pork Belly and Eggs, and here’s how it went:
- Boil the eggs for 12 minutes, or until hardboiled, then peel them and set aside in a bowl.
- Pour the pork belly in a pot over high heat.
- For 3-5 minutes cook and still to render some of the pork fat.
- Pour in the coconut water and 16oz of room temperature water. Then bring the pot to a boil.
- Now add the boiled eggs. Slowly wait to skim all the fat and impurities.
- Cover the pot with a banana leaf and let it gently simmer for 45 minutes.
- Now after 45 minutes serve it with rice and pickled bean sprouts.
The dish ended up being very tasty (so tasty that I, in fact, forgot to take a good picture before diving in!) I usually don’t love fatty cuts of meat, but the pork belly was very tender.