The verdict? My husband threatened to steal all the leftovers in the night and hoard them for himself at work. I am thinking this Burmese pork stew  was a hit! I served the stew over a version of these zero calorie “miracle noodles” and also added broccoli florets, peanuts and a shower of freshly chopped cilantro and green onions.

I have made this dish a few times now and have tweaked the recipe to suit our tastes. I omit the pork belly and use boneless pork loin instead of pork shoulder as I don’t think the dish needs all that extra grease. It’s plenty flavorful on its own. I also decrease the sugar in the caramel sauce and stir in about 1/2 cup of high quality fish sauce after removing the melted caramel sauce from the heat. The result is a silky, umami-licious sauce that just dances in the mouth — salty, savory, spicy and sweet.

The star-anise eggs are wonderful:

I happened to have a few cucumbers on hand so I threw together a spicy pickle to accompany the stew. I simply whisked together vinegar, a bit of sugar, black pepper , sesame seeds, crushed dried curry leaves and Korean hot pepper flakes (any kind will do). I then added thinly sliced and peeled cucumbers and let it mellow for a few minutes. That’s it. I look forward to trying them again in a few days after the flavors have really had the opportunity to mingle.