Recipe for cooking Vietnamese Pork with Orange Juice and Cilantro

Recipes from Thailand :: Thai Main Dish Meats

1 (2 1/2 pound) loin of pork, center cut, trimmed
    of most but not all the fat
20 small cloves garlic, peeled
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 c. chopped cilantro stalks
1 1/2 (one and one-half) c. chicken broth
4 bay leaves
4 whole allspice

Sauce
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 Tbsp. fat skimmed from the pan juices
3 green onions, trimmed and finely
    chopped, with most of the green parts
2 1/2 Tbsp. lime juice
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
Juice of 2 large oranges
1/4 c. finely chopped cilantro stalks

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit and set the rack in the middle of the oven.

Make 20 incisions all over the pork with the point of a sharp knife and insert the cloves of garlic. Season the meat with salt and pepper to taste. Set the meat on a rack in a roasting pan and sprinkle and distribute the top thickly with the 1/3 c. chopped cilantro stalks. Put the broth, bay leaves and allspice in the roasting pan, and cover the pan tightly with foil so that no steam will escape.

Cook the meat until it is very tender but not falling apart, so that you can slice it easily — about 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Set the meat aside on a warm dish for about 15 mins. Slice the meat, cover with foil and keep warm in the oven.

Meanwhile, degrease the broth. Put the butter and 1 Tbsp. of the skimmed fat in a saucepan and heat. Add the onions and 1 Tbsp. of the lime juice and fry gently until soft. Add the remaining 1 1/2 Tbsp. lime juice plus the skimmed pan juices (be sure to scrape the bottom of the pan well for all the scraps adhering to it), cover the pan and cook the sauce for about 5 mins. Add the mustard, orange juice and the 1/4 c. chopped cilantro stalks. Cook, uncovered or without a lid, for about 4 mins. longer. Pour some of the sauce over the meat and pass the rest in a separate dish.

Makes 5 to 6 servings.