Vietnamese Stuffed Tomatoes

Instructions

1

On a medium plate lined with paper towels, set ground pork to absorb excess moisture for 5 to 10 minutes.
2

In a small bowl, soak wood ear mushrooms in hot water until softened, 10 minutes. Drain and squeeze out excess water from mushrooms. Chop mushrooms into small pieces. (You should have about 2 tablespoons chopped mushrooms.)
3

In a large bowl, combine pork, chopped mushrooms, scallions, 1 tablespoon shallot, half of the garlic, salt, 1 teaspoon sugar, and freshly ground pepper. Mix well with spoon or hands and set aside for 30 minutes.
4

While the meat mixture sits, with a sharp knife, cut 6 tomatoes in half crosswise. Use a small metal spoon to gently scoop out pulp, seeds, and juice into a bowl. Chop pulp and remaining 1 tomato and add to bowl with seeds and juice. Dry insides of now-empty tomato halves with paper towels.
5

Use a small metal spoon to scoop pork mixture into tomato halves and press firmly, making sure to get filling into crevices.
6

In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 1/2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add tomatoes, meat-side down, and sear, without moving, until the meat forms a golden-brown crust, about 5 minutes. Using a thin spatula, carefully remove tomatoes from pan and transfer to a large plate, meat-side up.
7

Lower heat to medium. Add remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons oil and remaining shallot to skillet and cook until softened, about 1 minute. Add remaining garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomato pulp, 1/2 cup water, fish sauce, and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, about 3 minutes.
8

Turn heat down to medium-low, add tomatoes back to pan, meat-side up. Simmer partially covered, occasionally spooning sauce over the tomatoes with a metal spoon, until pork filling is cooked through and registers at least 140℉ (60℃), 8 to 14 minutes. Tomatoes should be soft but maintain their shape. Use a thin spatula to carefully transfer cooked tomatoes to a serving platter.
9

Increase heat to medium and cook sauce until glossy and slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Spoon sauce over tomatoes. Garnish with cilantro and freshly ground pepper, and serve with jasmine rice.

Chef's Tips

Large nonstick skillet, thin spatula
Dehydrated wood ear mushrooms can be found in most Asian food markets.
It’s important to use tomatoes that are all roughly the same size to ensure a similar rate of cooking. If you’re using larger tomatoes, the cooking time will be slightly different. I recommend vine on tomatoes, such as Beefsteak, Cherokee purple, Ozark Pink, or Berkeley Tie-dye pink.
For the fish sauce, I recommend using 3 Crab or Red Boat brands.
The filling can be made 2 days ahead and stored in a lidded container in the fridge.

Ingredients

Instructions

Chef's Tips