Plenty of households cook bao tu heo xao chua ngot for the crunch of the stomach against a tomato and tamarind sauce that sits right between sour and sweet. The one real hurdle is clearing the smell from the pork stomach.
Two rounds of rubbing with vinegar and salt, a blanch in boiling water, then a thorough scrape is what removes it. Forty minutes of poaching with onion and lemongrass leaves the pieces tender while keeping their bite. Serve it hot with steamed rice and some fresh greens on the side.
This batch weighs about 2.1kg, at roughly 91 calories per 100g.
Method
Put the pork stomach in a basin with 1 tablespoon vinegar and 1 teaspoon salt, turn it inside out and rub it hard, then rinse. Repeat once more.
Blanch the stomach in boiling water. Once the water returns to a boil, lift it out, scrape off any residue and rinse several times until no smell remains.
Put the stomach in a pot of water with 1/2 onion, 1 bruised lemongrass stalk and 1 teaspoon salt, cook for about 40 minutes, then lift out and cut into long bite sized strips.
Peel and eye the pineapple and cut it into small pieces, chop the tomato, and soak the ripe tamarind in water, mash it and strain for the pulp.
Heat 2 tablespoons cooking oil in a pan, stir fry the tomato and pineapple for about 5 minutes, then season with 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon seasoning powder, 1 teaspoon kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, the tamarind pulp and 3 tablespoons ketchup.
Add the pork stomach and stir fry in the sauce for about 10 minutes, then turn off the heat and lift onto a plate.
Tips
Two rounds of rubbing with vinegar and salt, followed by scraping after the blanch, is what clears the smell.
Forty minutes of poaching with onion and lemongrass leaves the pieces tender while keeping the crunch.
Cut the stomach into long bite sized strips, as pieces sliced too thin turn rubbery in the pan.
Ten minutes in the sauce is enough, since longer cooking toughens the stomach again.
The tamarind paste goes in before the ketchup, since pouring both at once makes the sweet and sour edge harsh.
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The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.