Cha Que (Baked Cinnamon Pork Pate)

Cha Que served with lettuce, cucumbers, mint, and nuoc cham.

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Cha Que (Baked Cinnamon Pork Pate)

The cinnamon flavored cousin of Cha Lua, Cha Que is a pork pate flavored with fish sauce, ground cinnamon, and sugar. Serve it with your favorite Vietnamese dish or eat it by itself with a side of nuoc cham and fresh herbs.

Prep Time40

Cook Time40

Cooling Time2 40

Total Time4

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Vietnamese

Diet: Gluten Free

Keyword: cha que, cha que recipe

Servings: people

Calories: 232kcal

Author: Becca Du

Equipment

Ingredients

2 lb pork loin cut into small cubes
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp white pepper
2 tsp ground cinnamon
5 tsp granulated sugar
2 tbsp corn starch
¼ cup fish sauce
½ tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
½ cup ice water

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

First, grind 2 lb of pork loin using a food grinder. Run it through the food grinder twice for the smoothest texture. Add the ground pork loin to a bowl.
Add 1 tsp of garlic powder, ½ tsp of white pepper, 2 tsp ground cinnamon, 5 tsp of granulated sugar, 2 tbsp of corn starch, ¼ cup of fish sauce, 1/2 tsp of salt, 2 tsp of baking powder, and ½ cup of ice water to the bowl. Mix until well combined.
Add the ground pork mixture to a Ziploc bag and freeze for 1 ½ hours. Flatten the ground pork so it's as thin as possible. This will help the pork reach the correct temperature faster.
Empty the ground pork into the bowl of a stand mixer. Make sure to save the Ziploc bag for later. Whip on speed 4 for 5 minutes. Increase the speed to 6 and whip for another 5 minutes. Transfer the ground pork back into the Ziploc bag and freeze for 40 minutes. Make sure to flatten the pork mixture.
After 40 minutes, empty the ground pork into the the stand mixer bowl, and whip on speed 6 for another 10 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C).
Grease a 8x8 baking pan with neutral oil. Press the pork mixture into the baking sheet.
Bake for 40 minutes until brown on top.
Cool for 10 minutes in the pan and slice into strips for serving.

Notes

Grind the meat twice for the smoothest consistency. I have emphasized this a few times already, but I think it’s worth mentioning again. This is definitely one of the most important parts of this recipe. Grinding up the meat into the finest, smoothest consistency is key to getting that bouncy, chewy texture that everyone loves.
Make sure the meat is always very cold. This is another key part of the process because if the meat is not cold, the final product will be soggy.

Nutrition