Last week our local grocery store had pork on sale, so I bought around 30 pounds 🤣 to fill the freezer. Hence last week’s post and this week’s post is pork related. This pork & beans stew was one of my absolute favorite dish growing up. It has everything. Protein from the pork, complex carbs from the beans, and veggies from the carrots. It’s the perfect one pot meal for those busy summer days.
What is in pork & beans stew?
I haven’t seen this dish served at any restaurants or eaten it at any of my Vietnamese friend’s house growing up here in the U.S. So how did this dish end up in our family? As it turns out, it was my grandmother’s creation, which she passed down to my mom. And now me.
Pork & beans stew is quite a simple dish. It has pork, cannellini beans, and carrots simmering in a savory clear broth. I know, you’re probably thinking…stew in the middle of summer? I promise you, it is not a heavy dish.
How to make pork & beans stew?
Whenever I make stew, I will do two things. First is to make sure there’s marbling in the meat. Second is to marinade it overnight. The marbling keeps the meat juicy while the overnight marinade adds a depth of flavors that you cannot get otherwise.
The marinade is simple. It contains garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, fish sauce, soy sauce, paprika, sugar, and hoisin sauce. Cut the pork into 1 inch cubes & let it sit in the marinade overnight in the fridge.
After it marinades, sauté some freshly chopped garlic then add the marinaded pork. Cover the pork with chicken broth and let it simmer with the lid on until the pork is tender. About 30 minutes. Maybe more if you prefer to cut the pork bigger than 1 inch cubes. Add some chicken powder to the broth then give it a taste. If you need to, adjust the seasoning here.
When the pork is tender, add carrots and let it simmer for another 15 minutes.
White beans
When choosing a bean to put in the stew, I needed something that will hold its shape and not get mushy. So I decided on canned cannellini beans in this recipe because of their size and the fact that they retain their firmness when cooked. If you don’t have cannellini beans, you can substitute great northern beans. They will also maintain their firmness in the stew.
If you have more time, you can use dry cannellini beans too, just make sure you soak them overnight first before cooking them. Whenever I cook dry beans for savory dishes, I like to cook them in chicken broth instead of water. It gives the beans more flavor.
Serving pork & beans stew
Since rice is a staple in Vietnamese cooking…you guessed it, it’s served with a side of Jasmine rice, and a generous amount of siracha sauce. My husband cannot eat anything without siracha 🤣. You could also serve it like a soup/stew with a side of homemade rolls or toasted baguettes to soak up all the delicious broth.
Pork & Beans Stew (Thịt Kho Đậu)
Ingredients
Ingredients for the pork marinade:
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp fish sauce
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- ½ tsp paprika
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp hoisin sauce
Ingredients for the stew:
- 1 tbsp chopped garlic
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 medium chopped carrots
- 1 tsp chicken powder
- 2 cans cannellini beans drained and rinsed.
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 pound pork butt cut into 1 inch cubes.
Ingredients for garnish:
- 1 stalk green onion chopped.
- 1 sprig cilantro chopped.
Instructions
Instructions for marinading the pork:
- Sprinkle a generous amount of salt on the pork. Gently rub the salt into the pork then rinse the salt off using warm water. Pat the pork dry and cut into 1 inch cubes.
- Combine all the ingredients for the pork marinade into a bowl. Mix well to combine then pour the marinade over the pork.
- Cover the pork in an air tight container and let it marinade overnight.
Instructions for making the stew:
- The next day, sauté some freshly chopped garlic in vegetable oil for approximately 2 minutes. Then add the marinaded pork & mix well to combine.
- Add the chicken broth to the pork and let it simmer with the lid on. Approximately 30 minutes.
- When the pork is cooked through, add the chicken powder and chopped carrots and let it cook for another 15 minutes.
- Give the broth a taste and adjust the seasonings accordingly if needed.
- Add the rinsed and drained cannellini beans to the pork and carrots. Mix well, garnish with chopped green onions and cilantro and serve.
The next time your local grocery store has a sale on pork, pick some up and give this recipe a try. For more stew recipes, check out my bò kho (Vietnamese beef stew) recipe.
