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1
Bring a pot of water to the boil. Add the pork belly pieces and blanch for 3 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water. The surface of the pork should be pale and clean of scum.
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2
Heat a wok over high heat until smoking. Add the nước màu and the blanched pork pieces. Toss continuously, coating every surface in the caramel, until the pork is a deep mahogany brown and the Maillard colour is set on the meat surface. The smell should shift from sharp caramel to roasted meat before any liquid is added.
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3
Transfer the caramelised pork to a heavy pot or clay braiser. Pour in the coconut water and add the fish sauce. Bring to a gentle simmer — small, lazy bubbles only, never a rolling boil. Braise uncovered for 40 minutes. The liquid will deepen in colour and begin to reduce.
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4
Add the peeled hard-boiled eggs to the braise. Continue at a gentle simmer for a further 20 minutes. The eggs should absorb the colour of the braising liquid, turning from white to a warm amber-brown at their surface.
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5
This is where the dish lives or dies: lift a piece of pork from the pot. The reduced sauce must coat it in a thin, glossy, lacquered film — not run off it in thin rivulets, not cling as a thick paste. Test the pork with a chopstick: it must yield completely with no resistance. If the sauce is still thin, continue reducing uncovered, checking every five minutes, until the gloss is correct. Adjust salt with fish sauce.