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I mentioned this dish a year or so ago and DonutHole asked me to post the recipe but I let it slip. We made it again today so I took a bunch of photos and cleaned up my recipe so I could post it. This is my favorite dish at Vietnamese restaurants. BigFatMeanie and family turned us on to this years ago and we experimented with various recipes and adaptations found on the internet until we found what we consider to be bun thit nuong nirvana. It is a wonderful dish with fresh ingredients and a terrific mix of flavors. It takes a fair amount of prep but it is mostly chopping and mixing so it is a fun dish to do together as a family and is well worth the effort. It might be our favorite dish to cook at home.
This is what the finished product looks like:
Here is the recipe. Quantities are just about right for five people.
Main ingredients:
3 lbs thin-sliced pork roast (marinated - see below)
One head of romaine lettuce
Pickled carrots and cucumbers (see below)
Dipping sauce (see below)
300 gr (10.7 oz) package of rice stick vermicelli (bean will work also).
Fresh Mint
Fresh Cilantro
Crushed peanuts
Directions
Pick out a nice boneless pork roast that has good marbling at the butcher shop. Ask the butcher to slice it in slices about as narrow as a nickel. Take it home and trim off the fat and cut into bite-size pieces.
Mix the marinate ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Cook caramel sauce. Add caramel sauce to the marinate as soon as it is done. Mix with pork, put in ziplock bag or covered bowl and set in fridge to marinate for a few hours.
Prepare pickled carrots/cucumbers (see below) and set in fridge.
Prepare one or two of the dipping sauces and set in fridge. Both are very good, so we prefer to do both in order to have a variety.
Chop the lettuce into narrow strips. Chop the mint and cilantro and crush the peanuts. Put each in a separate bowl and set aside or in the fridge.
Put the pork onto bamboo skewers and grill over charcoal or gas grill.
Cook rice stick vermicelli in boiling water for three minutes and then rinse in cold water.
Serve in bowls. Start with lettuce on the bottom then add noodles, carrots/cucumbers, mint/cilantro, pork and peanuts. Scoop or pour on dipping sauces.
Marinate
1/4 C fish sauce
2 T peanut oil (or veg or sesame oil)
Juice from one lime
1 T garlic
1/4-1/2 C minced shallots
Fresh ground black pepper (to taste - use liberally)
1 t salt
Caramel sauce (see below).
Caramel Sauce
1 C brown sugar
3/4 C water
Combine in saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Lower to medium heat and simmer 5-10 minutes until you have a dark rich syrup.
Pickled carrots/cucumbers:
1-2 medium cucumbers, shredded
1 package shredded carrots (use about 3/4 of the package)
1.5 C water
3/4 C sugar
3/4 C white or rice vinegar
1 t salt
Mix water, sugar, vinegar, salt in a saucepan and heat until sugar is dissolved. Cool sauce. Add carrots/cucumbers and set in fridge.
Vegetarian Everyday Dipping Sauce
1/4 C soy sauce
1/4 C fresh lime juice
1/4 C pineapple juice
1/4 C pineapple chunks
3 T sugar
2 t sesame oil
1/2 t salt
2 T chopped fresh cilantro
1 T chopped/minced garlic
Combine in a food processor or blender and mix until smooth.
Ginger-Lime Dipping Sauce
2 T chopped fresh ginger
2 t chopped/minced garlic
3 T sugar
1/2 t salt
2 T fish sauce
2 T fresh lime juice
2 T water
1/4 t chopped red chili flakes
Combine in a food processor or blender and mix until smooth.
-------------------------------------
Trimming and cutting the sliced pork:
After adding the caramel sauce to the marinate:
Marinating the pork:
Pickled carrots and cucumbers. I like to keep them on separate sides of the bowl while soaking in the vinegar mixture.
Putting the marinated pork on bamboo skewers:
I like to grill the pork in my big grilling basket so that that it is easy to turn everything over at once, but you could put them directly on the grill.
Close-up of the meat. It tastes wonderful. This is the same meat they put in the Vietnamese sandwiches.
Another shot of the final product:
This is what the finished product looks like:
Here is the recipe. Quantities are just about right for five people.
Main ingredients:
3 lbs thin-sliced pork roast (marinated - see below)
One head of romaine lettuce
Pickled carrots and cucumbers (see below)
Dipping sauce (see below)
300 gr (10.7 oz) package of rice stick vermicelli (bean will work also).
Fresh Mint
Fresh Cilantro
Crushed peanuts
Directions
Pick out a nice boneless pork roast that has good marbling at the butcher shop. Ask the butcher to slice it in slices about as narrow as a nickel. Take it home and trim off the fat and cut into bite-size pieces.
Mix the marinate ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Cook caramel sauce. Add caramel sauce to the marinate as soon as it is done. Mix with pork, put in ziplock bag or covered bowl and set in fridge to marinate for a few hours.
Prepare pickled carrots/cucumbers (see below) and set in fridge.
Prepare one or two of the dipping sauces and set in fridge. Both are very good, so we prefer to do both in order to have a variety.
Chop the lettuce into narrow strips. Chop the mint and cilantro and crush the peanuts. Put each in a separate bowl and set aside or in the fridge.
Put the pork onto bamboo skewers and grill over charcoal or gas grill.
Cook rice stick vermicelli in boiling water for three minutes and then rinse in cold water.
Serve in bowls. Start with lettuce on the bottom then add noodles, carrots/cucumbers, mint/cilantro, pork and peanuts. Scoop or pour on dipping sauces.
Marinate
1/4 C fish sauce
2 T peanut oil (or veg or sesame oil)
Juice from one lime
1 T garlic
1/4-1/2 C minced shallots
Fresh ground black pepper (to taste - use liberally)
1 t salt
Caramel sauce (see below).
Caramel Sauce
1 C brown sugar
3/4 C water
Combine in saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Lower to medium heat and simmer 5-10 minutes until you have a dark rich syrup.
Pickled carrots/cucumbers:
1-2 medium cucumbers, shredded
1 package shredded carrots (use about 3/4 of the package)
1.5 C water
3/4 C sugar
3/4 C white or rice vinegar
1 t salt
Mix water, sugar, vinegar, salt in a saucepan and heat until sugar is dissolved. Cool sauce. Add carrots/cucumbers and set in fridge.
Vegetarian Everyday Dipping Sauce
1/4 C soy sauce
1/4 C fresh lime juice
1/4 C pineapple juice
1/4 C pineapple chunks
3 T sugar
2 t sesame oil
1/2 t salt
2 T chopped fresh cilantro
1 T chopped/minced garlic
Combine in a food processor or blender and mix until smooth.
Ginger-Lime Dipping Sauce
2 T chopped fresh ginger
2 t chopped/minced garlic
3 T sugar
1/2 t salt
2 T fish sauce
2 T fresh lime juice
2 T water
1/4 t chopped red chili flakes
Combine in a food processor or blender and mix until smooth.
-------------------------------------
Trimming and cutting the sliced pork:
After adding the caramel sauce to the marinate:
Marinating the pork:
Pickled carrots and cucumbers. I like to keep them on separate sides of the bowl while soaking in the vinegar mixture.
Putting the marinated pork on bamboo skewers:
I like to grill the pork in my big grilling basket so that that it is easy to turn everything over at once, but you could put them directly on the grill.
Close-up of the meat. It tastes wonderful. This is the same meat they put in the Vietnamese sandwiches.
Another shot of the final product:
This look unbelievably tasty.
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