Pork Braised in Caramel Sauce

The Vietnamese are known for kho dishes—braised, caramelized food. When sugar is cooked over medium to high heat, it will caramelize into a thick brown sauce. Some cooks like to create a caramel sauce to pour over the food. I prefer to cover the meat with a generous amount of sugar and brown it, which produces a nice caramel coating as well as permeating the food with a light taste of sugar. As the meat braises, the liquid and sugars will continue to cook and thicken. Kho is a verb,