Cháo lòng is rice congee cooked in pork-bone broth and topped with sliced pork organs: tongue, heart, liver, stomach, cubes of pork blood and intestine stuffed as a blood sausage. It’s one of the most popular dishes in Vietnam, and you’ll find it easily on the street. It’s eaten with bean sprouts, chilli paste, fish sauce, coriander and quẩy, the Chinese fried dough sticks. Time: the bone broth simmers for 1 hour before the rice goes in. Ingredients For the congee 500 g pork bones 1 bowl rice 3 litres water 3 tablespoons fish sauce Maggi seasoning powder For the organs ½ pork stomach 1 pork tongue 1 pork heart 100 g pork liver 200 g pork intestine 200 g pork blood cubes A little pork fat, diced Vinegar, for cleaning the intestine Spring onion, Vietnamese mint, salt, sugar and pepper To serve Lime, coriander, Vietnamese mint Chilli paste and bean sprouts Quẩy (Chinese fried dough sticks) Extra fish sauce How to make cháo lòng 1. Make the broth Wash the pork bones well and chop them into short pieces. Put them in a pot with the 3 litres of water and cook for 1 hour. Skim the scum off the surface from time to time to keep the broth clear. 2. Cook the congee Rinse the rice 2–3 times and add it to the pot. Cook until the rice is soft, then season with the fish sauce and Maggi seasoning powder. 3. Prepare the tongue Soak the tongue in hot water, then scrape the outer layer off its skin with a knife. Rinse it 2–3 times and put it into the congee pot to cook. 4. Boil the heart and liver Clean the heart and liver well and boil them in 2 litres of hot water with a little salt. Strain this cooking liquid and pour it into the congee pot as well. 5. Cook the blood and make the blood sausage Boil the blood cubes in a separate pot of hot water, then cut them into small squares. Clean the intestine with vinegar until the smell is gone. Grind the blood cubes with spring onion, a little diced pork fat, Vietnamese mint and the seasonings, and stuff this filling into the intestine. Fry the sausage until it turns golden, let it cool, then slice it. 6. Slice and arrange Slice all the organs thinly and arrange them on a plate. 7. Serve Ladle the congee into bowls and lay a few pieces of each organ on top. Add a little lime juice, Vietnamese mint, bean sprouts and chilli paste. Serve it hot, with more fish sauce on the side for anyone who wants it. Share:
