Walk into any Vietnamese restaurant and and you will most likely see someone eating Bún Thịt Nướng, I mean, a grilled pork dish served on top of noodles, and most likely served with a crispy egg roll. I first encountered this dish while living in Dallas. There was an intersection near I lived that had a small Asian grocery store on one corner, and across the street was a Vietnamese restaurant. I would frequent there often, and it is one of the restaurants where I first experienced really good Asian food. I often ate there by myself, ordering great clay pot dishes, and well, this pork and noodle dish that I have never forgotten.
As I matured in my culinary skills, I reflect back on those flavors, and how simple the dish was placed in front of me. Basically thinly sliced caramelized pork, surrounded by fresh herbs and vegetables, on top of noodles that had a sweet and spicy sauce over the top, and when mixed, it was just a thing of joy. As I have been into these mixed bowls, if you will, lately, I decided to introduce this dish to my family, hoping that my kids would partake in adding more vegetables and herbs to their dish.
Let’s get started.
Ingredients for the Pork:
- 1 lb Pork Shoulder, sliced into thin strips
- 3 tbsp Fresh Garlic, minced (marinate the pork in garlic overnight)
- 3 tbsp Lemongrass, minced
- 2 Green Onions, thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp Cilantro, finely chopped
- 2 heaping tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp Fish Sauce
- 2 tbsp dark Soy Sauce
- 1/2 tbsp dark Sesame oil
- 1 tsp cracked black pepper
Ingredients for the Noodle Salad:
- 1 lb thin spaghetti or vermicelli noodles, cooked al dente
- 2 cups of bean sprouts
- 1 bunch of fresh cilantro
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 whole seeded cucumber, thinly sliced
- Fresh mint leaves
- pickled carrots
- Roasted peanuts, lightly crushed
Ingredients for the Chili Sauce:
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced (more to your liking)
- 1 Thai bird chile, thinly sliced (more to your liking)
- 4 tbsp white vinegar
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 4 tbsp granulated sugar
- 6 tbsp water
Ingredients for pickled carrots:
- 1 large carrot, skinned, cut into 1/4 inch thick sticks
- 1/4 cup of vinegar
- 2 tbsp sugar
- pinch of salt
- 4 tbsp water
Start by marinating your meat in the garlic. Add the sliced pork into a large ziplock bag. Toss in the garlic, seal the bag, and massage that garlic into the pork. Set in the refrigerator until the following day.
Add the fish sauce, soy sauce, black pepper, sesame oil, green onions, cilantro, sugar, and lemongrass to a mixing bowl. Mix well. Add the pork to the bowl, and give another good mix, making sure you marinate all of the pork. Set this aside and let it rest for about 45 minutes. During this time, make the sauce that you will pour over the noodles.
Make the sauce. Add everything to a large skillet or saucepan, and bring to a boil, stirring from time to time. You want all of the sugar to dissolve. Once dissolved, remove it from the burner, and set it aside to cool. The sauce will have reduced a bit as well.
Now boil your noodles until they are cooked al dente. Once cooked, drain, and set them aside.
Make your pickled carrots by adding the vinegar, sugar, salt and water to a skillet. Bring to a boil, making sure you dissolve all of the sugar. Add the carrots to a jar, and pour the pickling liquid over the carrots. Set these to the side until you are ready to plate.
OK, now fire up your grill. I’m a big believer in grilling over coal, but if you have a gas grill, go ahead and use that. No big deal.
Once your coals are hot, begin laying down the pork onto the grates. You will probably need to do these in batches, and you will not want to walk away from it as pork shoulder has some fat on it and well, the sugar in the marinate… you get it.
Cooking the pork will go rather quickly, and probably only take a few minutes per side. You will see how the pork caramelizes.
ONE THING. Resist eating the cooked pork at this time. Remember, this pork is the star of the dish and it will have to make it into the bowls. It’s hard to resist, trust me.
Once the pork is grilled, it is ready to plate.
Add a bit of the noodles to a bowl. Drizzle some of the chili sauce over the noodles. Add pork, bean sprouts, cilantro, mint, green onions, cucumber, pickled carrots, and crushed peanuts to the bowl. Drizzle more of the chili sauce. Give it a good mix, and dig in.
The dish is huge in flavortown. The sweetness of the mixture, along with the pickled carrots, and a mild heat from the chili sauce, this dish has everything you would ever want in a great Vietnamese dish. Let’s just say my oldest, and somewhat pickiest of eaters, had three servings. It’s just that good. Hope you enjoy!
Vietnamese Grilled Pork with Noodles (Bún Thịt Nướng)
Ingredients
- Ingredients for the Pork:
- 1 lb Pork Shoulder sliced into thin strips
- 3 tbsp Fresh Garlic minced (marinate the pork in garlic overnight)
- 3 tbsp Lemongrass minced
- 2 Green Onions thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp Cilantro finely chopped
- 2 heaping tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp Fish Sauce
- 2 tbsp dark Soy Sauce
- 1/2 tbsp dark Sesame oil
- 1 tsp cracked black pepper
- Ingredients for the Noodle Salad:
- 1 lb thin spaghetti or vermicelli noodles cooked al dente
- 2 cups of bean sprouts
- 1 bunch of fresh cilantro
- 2 green onions thinly sliced
- 1 whole seeded cucumber thinly sliced
- Fresh mint leaves
- pickled carrots
- Roasted peanuts lightly crushed
- Ingredients for the Chili Sauce:
- 2 cloves of garlic minced (more to your liking)
- 1 Thai bird chile thinly sliced (more to your liking)
- 4 tbsp white vinegar
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 4 tbsp granulated sugar
- 6 tbsp water
- Ingredients for pickled carrots:
- 1 large carrot skinned, cut into 1/4 inch thick sticks
- 1/4 cup of vinegar
- 2 tbsp sugar
- pinch of salt
- 4 tbsp water
Instructions
- Start by marinating your meat in the garlic. Add the sliced pork into a large ziplock bag. Toss in the garlic, seal the bag, and massage that garlic into the pork. Set in the refrigerator until the following day.
- Add the fish sauce, soy sauce, black pepper, sesame oil, green onions, cilantro, sugar, and lemongrass to a mixing bowl. Mix well. Add the pork to the bowl, and give another good mix, making sure you marinate all of the pork. Set this aside and let it rest for about 45 minutes. During this time, make the sauce that you will pour over the noodles.
- Make the sauce. Add everything to a large skillet or saucepan, and bring to a boil, stirring from time to time. You want all of the sugar to dissolve. Once dissolved, remove it from the burner, and set it aside to cool. The sauce will have reduced a bit as well.
- Now boil your noodles until they are cooked al dente. Once cooked, drain, and set them aside.
- Make your pickled carrots by adding the vinegar, sugar, salt and water to a skillet. Bring to a boil, making sure you dissolve all of the sugar. Add the carrots to a jar, and pour the pickling liquid over the carrots. Set these to the side until you are ready to plate.
- OK, now fire up your grill. I'm a big believer in grilling over coal, but if you have a gas grill, go ahead and use that. No big deal.
- Once your coals are hot, begin laying down the pork onto the grates. You will probably need to do these in batches, and you will not want to walk away from it as pork shoulder has some fat on it and well, the sugar in the marinate... you get it.
- Cooking the pork will go rather quickly, and probably only take a few minutes per side. You will see how the pork caramelizes.
- ONE THING. Resist eating the cooked pork at this time. Remember, this pork is the star of the dish and it will have to make it into the bowls. It's hard to resist, trust me.
- Once the pork is grilled, it is ready to plate.
- Add a bit of the noodles to a bowl. Drizzle some of the chili sauce over the noodles. Add pork, bean sprouts, cilantro, mint, green onions, cucumber, pickled carrots, and crushed peanuts to the bowl. Drizzle more of the chili sauce. Give it a good mix, and dig in.