Vietnamese Bun Thit Nuong :: Vietnamese Pork Noodle Bowl

Ingredients

• For the Pork
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon lemongrass paste
• 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
• 1 tablespoon Sriracha Thai chili sauce
• 4 green onions, minced
• 1-1/2 lb. pork butt roast or pork shoulder, sliced into thin pieces about 1/4-inch thick
• For the Bowl
• 1 (14 oz) package rice vermicelli
• 4 cups coarsely chopped Romaine Lettuce, chilled
• 1 English cucumber, seeded & sliced into matchsticks
• 1 cup matchstick carrots
• 1 cup bean sprouts
• ¼ cup coarsely chopped mint leaves
• ½ cup coarsely chopped cilantro
• ½ cup coarsely chopped roasted peanuts
• Fish Dipping Sauce (Nuoc Mam Cham)
• 1 ½ cups water
• 8 tablespoons fish sauce
• 6 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 6 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 1 fresh red Thai chili, finely diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• ¼ cup matchstick carrots

Instructions

1. For the pork: Place sliced pork into a large gallon-size Ziploc bag. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together all marinade ingredients. Pour marinade over pork pieces and seal bag. Toss pork around in bag to completely coat. Place in refrigerator to marinate for 2 hours or overnight. When ready to cook, remove meat from marinade and pat with clean paper towels to remove excess moisture.
2. Heat a large sauté pan over high heat and add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Add meat about a cup at a time and sauté quickly over high heat. Remove to platter and continue with remaining meat. The pork should brown nicely with a lot of caramelization on the outside. If meat begins to boil with excess moisture, you’ve added too much to the pan; remove some of the meat and pour off water. This is also delicious prepared on an outdoor grill, just use a mesh grill basket to keep the meat from falling through the grates.
3. For the Bowl: Cook vermicelli in boiling water for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain in a colander and rinse with cold water until noodles are cool. Prepare all of the vegetables and refrigerate until ready to use. Note: For the matchstick carrots, I usually drizzle them with about 3 tablespoons of the prepared Nuoc Mam Cham and toss them in that vinaigrette, then cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
4. For the Fish Sauce (Nuoc Mam Cham) In a medium sauce pot, combine water, vinegar and sugar, and bring to a low boil, stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat and cool completely. Once mixture is cool, whisk in fish sauce, lime juice, chili pepper, garlic and carrots. Serve on the side of noodle bowl. Note: if you have leftovers, just place in a container or freezer bag and freeze. Thaw completely to serve.
5. To Assemble the bowls
6. In large serving bowls, place 1 cup chopped Romaine Lettuce. Next top lettuce with cooked vermicelli. Top with caramelized pork, sliced cucumber, matchstick carrots, bean sprouts, chopped cilantro and mint, then sprinkle with roasted peanuts.
7. Serve immediately with fish dipping sauce, Hoisin sauce, and Sriracha sauce on the side. Yuuuum!!!

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