Stuffed Tomatoes / Ca Chua Nhoi Thit
In this scrumptious dish, juicy ripe tomatoes are filled with lightly seasoned ground pork and cooked in a zesty sauce. The best part about this dish: you make it using a single skillet. How’s that for one pot cooking?! Easy to prep and cook, you can enjoy a healthy and hearty dish in no time at all. It’s a wonderful dish to make during the busy work week. Keep this in your cooking repertoire and it’ll become a go-to dish. Enjoy!
- Prep time
- 20 min
- Cook time
- 23 min
- Yield
- 5 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 5 medium-sized ripe tomatoes
- 2 green onions
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 small shallot
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 Tbsp fish sauce
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tsp vegetable oil
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste
- 2/3 cup water
- 1 tsp sugar
Instructions
- 1
Wash the tomatoes with cold water and remove any stems.
- 2
Cut off the bottom third of the green onions and then chop. Chop the green onion stems and transfer into a small bowl. Set aside for now. Peel, smash and mince the garlic. Remove the skin from the shallot and finely dice. Transfer the green onion bottoms, garlic and shallots into a small plate and set aside.
- 3
In a medium bowl, add the ground pork, the green onion bottoms, half of the minced garlic, half of the diced shallots, 2 tsp fish sauce and ground black pepper. Mix together combining all the ingredients well.
- 4
Using a cookie scoop or spoon transfer a small amount of the filling into a tomato half. Continue until all the tomatoes are filled. Gently press down on the pork with your fingers pushing the filling into the tomato. Shape the filling into a slight mound instead of flat across. This elevates the tomato so it doesn’t get overcooked.
- 5
Heat a skillet over Medium High heat and add 1 tsp vegetable oil. Add the tomatoes placing the meat side down. Cook for 8 minutes. During this time, rotate the tomatoes so the meat gets evenly browned. Transfer to a clean plate and set aside for now.
- 6
Clean the skillet. Add 1 tsp vegetable oil, the remaining garlic, shallots and tomato paste. Stir-fry over Medium High heat for 10 seconds. Add the chopped tomatoes and water and combine together. Cover and cook on Low heat for 5 minutes. Add the sugar and fish sauce and stir together. Add back the tomatoes with the meat side facing up. Cover and cook on Low heat for 6-7 minutes or until the tomatoes are soft. Spoon the tomato sauce over the tomatoes and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Top with ground black pepper.
- 7
Transfer the Stuffed Tomatoes to a large plate, drizzle the tomato sauce on top and garnish with the chopped green onion stems. Enjoy while hot!