Vietnamese Head Cheese (Giò Thủ)

What is Gio Thu?

Giò Thủ is a gelatinous, meaty roll made from various parts of a pig’s head, often called Vietnamese head cheese. However, there’s no cheese involved. Think of a French terrine.

Giò Thủ showcases the resourcefulness of Vietnamese cuisine. It’s a dish that transforms ingredients that might otherwise go to waste into a uniquely delicious and texturally wonderful.

You can use any of the following pig head parts to make Gio Thu: pork ears, snout, tongue, cheeks. You can add other non-head part such as hocks for a more meaty version.

Everything is simmered in a pot until tender, then thinly sliced. It’s then stir-fried with black fungus, shallots, black peppercorns, and other classic Vietnamese seasonings.

The mixture is shaped into a log and then refrigerated to set. It is bound together by the natural gelatin extracted from pork skin.

Once set, it’s sliced into thick rounds or wedges and served cold.

Giò Thủ is a popular dish during festive celebrations like Tết (Vietnamese Lunar New Year). It’s traditionally served on its own as an appetizer or paired with pickled vegetables. You can also use them as a filling to Vietnamese sandwiches (Banh Mi).

What You Need to Make Gio Thu

To make Giò Thủ, gather the following ingredients and equipment:

• Pork Ear, Pork Snout and Pork Tongue: The pork ears are essential as they provide the chewy, crunchy texture that we love most about Giò Thủ. Pork snout can be difficult to find, but if you can’t locate it, you can substitute with boneless pork hocks, pork shoulder, or even pork belly. The key is the pork skin on the different pig parts for the gelatin.
• Wood Ear Mushrooms (Black Fungus): Also adds a crunchy texture to the Giò Thủ. But it also provide that signature earthy flavor. There really is no substitute for it. If you want it to be authentic, you need the black fungus. Luckily, it’s widely available in many Asian grocery stores.
• Salt, Cooking Wine and Flour: These are used to clean the pork pieces before boiling, helping to remove any strong porky smell. I prefer coarse sea salt for its exfoliating action, Chinese cooking wine to neutralize the odor, and any flour you have on hand to absorb impurities for easy washing. I’m using all-purpose flour.
• Fish Sauce, Sugar, Salt and Chicken Bouillon Powder: These are the essential Vietnamese seasoning ingredients that make everything delicious. If you prefer not to use chicken bouillon powder, you can substitute it with a bit of MSG. If you’d rather avoid MSG as well, simply adjust with extra salt to taste at the end of cooking.
• Garlic, Shallots, and Ginger: The aromatics that will make everything smell amazing.
• Black Peppercorns: A must for Gio Thu. Black pepper adds a bold, peppery bite. Many people like to whole peppercorns, but I think they are a bit too much spice for me so I prefer coarsely cracked black peppercorns.
• Aluminum Foil and Food Plastic Wrap: Although banana leaves are traditionally used, foil seems to work best for wrapping as it retains the heat to keep everything sticky for easy molding. Plastic wrap is wrapped around the foil to create an air tight seal.

How to Make Giò Thủ

Step 1: Clean the Pork

No exceptions. You have to clean the pork thoroughly since we are dealing with not so favorable parts of the pig.

Rub the pork meat coarse sea salt, cooking wine, and flour. Then rinse thoroughly and drain dry.

Step 2: Parboil the Pork

Add the ginger and shallot to a large pot of water and bring it to a boil.

Add the pork and simmer over medium heat for 30 minutes.

Remove the pork from the water without rinsing it. You want that perfumed aromatics to still linger on the pork meat.

When the pork tongue is boiled, a white film will appear on the surface and become more noticeable once cooked. Let the tongue cool until it’s easy to handle, then trim off the white layer. After that, slice everything into thin pieces, if it didn’t come already sliced. Set aside.

Step 3: Prepare the Mushroom

Place the woodear fungus in a large bowl and cover it with plenty of water. Let it soak for 30 minutes until fully hydrated.

Once hydrated, squeeze out the excess water, rinse, and drain dry.

Remove any hard knots (usually found at the center of whole woodear mushrooms), then roughly chop the fungus and set it aside.

Step 4: Stir-Fry & Season

Now that we have everything ready, it’s time to stir fry.

You should have a mixture that looks like the the above picture.

Step 5: Roll into Logs with Foil

Work quickly while the mixture is warm. The residual heat will help with a tighter roll.

Divide the cooked pork mixture into four portions.

Wrap each log in plastic wrap, using the wrap to further tighten the log. Repeat with the remaining portions.

Step 6: Chill & Serve

Transfer the wrapped logs to the refrigerator and let them set for at least 5 hours, or overnight for best results.

When ready to serve, you can fully unroll the logs and slice them into thick coins. Cut each coin into wedges, if desired.

Serve chilled or at room temperature as an appetizer. You can also add use it as a meaty filling for Vietnamese sandwiches (Bánh Mì).

Avoid heating Gio Thu once it’s made. Heating will cause the Gio Thu to melt and lose its shape.

Mold Alternatives

I prefer using aluminum foil when molding Gio Thu. It’s something I always have on hand, but it does require a bit of free-forming skill.

If that feels too tricky, you can use any mold you have at home that is shaped like a log, such as a bottle or can.

You can also shape it in a square container like a baking tray or glass Tupperware.

Whatever you use, make sure to press down or squeeze tightly so that it holds its shape once congealed.

For a more precise and uniform result, you can invest in a meat press. It’s a handy tool that helps create a tight, even roll easily.

What to do with the Stock?

Since it was properly cleaned, you can make a wonderful broth with it. One dish that comes to mind that will perfectly use that gelatinized broth is Chinese soup dumplings, Xiao Long Bao.

Other Tết Recipes

If you enjoy this recipe, you might like these other traditional dishes for the Lunar New Year celebrations:

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