Pork: the Vietnamese Way – Heo Yeah!
Update: Preorder your Heo Yeah T’s now! Very limited quantities are available. Visit our new online store and pay securely with paypal!
In Vietnam, my grandma, mom, and aunts butchered and sold pork at the market. They raised as well as purchased heo (pig) from farms to sell at Cho Nhat Tao in district 10 of Saigon. My dad tells stories of how he would have to stand guard and shoo away the piggies whenever I had to use the bathroom as they roamed around in the yard. In fact, one of my uncles started a pig farm when he first came to America in 1975 since that’s all he knew. Pigs have been a vital part of our family are such a vital part of Vietnamese cuisine, we’ve come up with a design to honor every part of it.
The Vietnamese have been using every part of the pig long before nose to tail eating has become vogue. Inspired by Pig Parts and Beer who have an amazing Filipino version, we have listed the most common dishes for each section of the pig for classic Vietnamese dishes. Thịt nạc vai (pork shoulder/butt) are the cuts we like for thit nuong and nem nuong. Thịt ba chỉ (pork belly) is great for thit kho, roasted pork belly heo quay, or just pan fried, the sườn (ribs) are great for sườn xào chua ngọt, the loin and tenderloin is great for making giò sống and chả lụa. The má (cheek), mỏ (snout), tai (ears) and lưỡi (tongue) are all used for headcheese. The ham end can be used to make chà bông (pork floss) and the bắp chân (hock) is a favorite component in bún bò Huế.
As part of the Foodbuzz tastemakers program we were given the opportunity to try Walgreens Photocenter to make photo gifts. They have a huge variety of photo gifts available but we decided to go with some t-shirts. It couldn’t have been easier as there’s a Walgreens a few blocks from our house and it was as simple as uploading the photo and ordering it. We also could have easily done it online as well. Because of Foodbuzz and Walgreen’s generosity, we made one extra t-shirt and giving away a Pork the Vietnamese way t-shirt to a lucky reader!
Simply tell us your best pig or pork related stories in the comments…it could be how you rolled in the mud with a pig at a pig farm or how you impressed your spouse with their favorite pork dish…be creative and anything related to pork but please keep it rated PG (for pig) and we’ll chose a winner by Monday Oct 24th.
Ready to win one? Heo yeah!
It was so hard to simply choose one winner, but the winning entry is Roe with comment number #33 “When I was about 4 years old, my mom took me back to Vietnam, just me and her visiting the family. We were staying at my ong noi’s house and he had a pig in the backyard!!! As a 4-year-old from America, my eyes widened and my hands promptly went on my hips. I stomped around the kitchen pointing at the pig yelling, “pigs don’t belong here!! pigs can’t live with us!! he has to go to the farm!!” Well, my relatives and ong noi didn’t speak English and looked at me confused, but I wouldn’t stop. Needless to say, 2 days later, Mr. Pig was out of the house, relocated to my uncles, and I got crowned Ms. Dang Da (sp). from then on, if I wanted something, they knew I’d usually get it, or face the wrath of my stomping little feet and hearty lungs.”
Be on the lookout, we may have these printed in limited quantities for purchase.
