← Nouns Cooking · Vietnamese

Ingredients

• 700 g pork shoulder (or belly), sliced 3–4 mm thick
• 3 Shallot, minced
• 4 cloves Garlic, minced
• 1 Lemongrass, white part, finely minced
• 3 tbsp Sugar
• 1 tbsp Honey
• 2 tbsp Fish sauce
• ½ tbsp Black pepper
• 2 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 400 g Rice vermicelli
• 1 Lettuce, shredded
• 2 small cucumbers, cut into matchsticks
• 150 g Bean sprouts
• 1 handful Mint
• 1 handful Thai basil
• 4 tbsp roasted peanuts, crushed
• 3 Spring onion, thinly sliced, for scallion oil
• 3 tbsp oil, for scallion oil
• 4 tbsp Fish sauce
• 3 tbsp Sugar
• 3 tbsp lime juice
• 8 tbsp warm water
• 2 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
• 1 Bird's eye chilli, finely chopped

Method

1. Mix all the marinade ingredients until the sugar dissolves, then toss with the pork. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour (or overnight). Soak bamboo skewers in water at the same time.
2. Cook the noodles following the packet, usually 3–5 minutes, then rinse under cold water and drain very well. Make the nước chấm: dissolve the sugar in the warm water and add the fish sauce, lime, garlic and chilli.
3. For the scallion oil, heat the oil until shimmering and pour it over the spring onions in a heatproof bowl.
4. Thread the pork onto skewers, or leave the slices flat. Grill over a hot barbecue or griddle for 3–4 min per side, until caramelised with charred edges and cooked through. Watch it: the sugar burns quickly.
5. Fill bowls with lettuce, cucumber, sprouts and herbs, then noodles. Top with the hot pork, a spoonful of scallion oil and the peanuts. Pour over nước chấm to taste and toss everything together.

Tips

• Contains peanuts. Add a sliced chả giò (fried spring roll) and pickled carrot and daikon to each bowl for the full restaurant version.
• No grill? Spread the pork on a rack under a very hot oven grill for 8–10 minutes, turning once.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Hungry Huy Wok and Kin Vicky Pham