Bun thit nuong (Vietnamese grilled pork with noodles)

Welcome back

Here comes the recipe you've all been waiting for!  Mikey finally came back from Chicago, so I cooked his favorite Vietnamese dish.  A Vietnamese meal from his Vietnamese girlfriend :). Suffice it to say, Mikey enjoyed his welcome back meal.  The way to a man's heart really is through his stomach.

Bun thit nuong translates to "noodle and grilled meat".  What can be bad about carbs and meat?  Nothing, really.  But you can make it even better, and the Vietnamese do so by adding a variety of accoutrements, such as fresh herbs, picked vegetables, and crushed peanuts.  It is divine.  Dare I say heaven in a bowl?  Yes, I dare.  

However, this recipe in the traditional Vietnamese fashion can take a while to make.  It took me a couple of hours to prep and another couple of hours to cook, but I made egg rolls too.  (The recipe will come soon - I didn't want to overwhelm you guys if I haven't already with the massive ingredient list!). I went all out this time because it was a special welcome back meal for Mike, but normally I just do the noodles, pork, lettuce, cilantro, and nuoc cham and it's still quite delicious. What I actually do is make 3 pounds of meat at one time and freeze the rest in 1 pound portions.  Then all I have to do is soak the noodles and thaw the meat and it turns out to be a very simple meal.  I always have noodles in the pantry and nuoc cham in the fridge (Vietnamese people, you know what I mean.)

As you can tell, I went a little picture-crazy. Actually, really picture-crazy.  But it's not because I had just recharged my battery or because I just emptied my memory card.  It was for you, my friends.  This recipe is a little bit complicated, so I wanted to make it as clear as possible how to make it. (Because it is definitely worth trying.) And if you get though the entire recipe, there's an awesome little surprise at the end of this post :)


Bun thit nuong
Serves 4
Print this recipe


Ingredients
Pork
1 lb pork tenderloin, cut across the grain into thin strips (easier if frozen for 20 minutes before slicing)
2 lemongrass stalks, trimmed and chopped (woody ends discarded)
2 shallots, chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons nuoc mam
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon canola oil


1 lb rice vermicelli noodles
3 cups green lettuce, chopped
1 medium cucumber, sliced into thin half-moons
1/2 cup cilantro, stems removed
1/4 cup mint leaves
1 cup bean sprouts
4 tablespoons dry roasted peanuts, chopped
8 tablespoons pickled carrots and radishes, recipe follows
4 teaspoons scallion infused oil, recipe follows
Nuoc cham, recipe follows


Directions
1. For the marinade, pound the lemon grass, shallots and garlic with the sugar using a mortar and pestle to form a paste.  Stir in the nuoc mam, soy sauce, and canola oil.  Toss the pork in the marinade, cover, and marinate for 1-2 hours.  Alternatively, make the marinade in a food processor.  The lemongrass is quite hard to chop, so if you have a food processor, use it.  

These are the noodles that I used

2. While the meat is marinating, soak the rice vermicelli in warm water for 30 minutes to 1 hour until they are soft and pliable.  You can even soak the noodles for several hours - they won't get mushy.  Make sure the water covers the noodles by about 6 inches.  Place the pot on stove and turn to high heat (you don't even have to change the water).  Bring pot to a boil, stirring every minute or so.  Cook for 5-10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the noodle.  Cook until the noodles are a little softer than al dente, because the noodles will become firmer when cool.  Drain noodles and rinse with cold water.  Allow to come to room temperature.
3. Preheat broiler or grill. Thread pork on to presoaked skewers. Cook for 1-2 minutes on each side.  Alternatively, heat approximately 1 tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and cook unskewered meat for 1-2 minutes on each side.  This is way easier than grilling or broiling, but you won't get the wonderful charred bits and smokey flavor.
4. To prepare bowls:  

Take a deep bowl and put 3/4 cup of lettuce, 1/4 cup bean sprouts, 1-2 tablespoons of cilantro, and a few mint leaves.  

Top with 1 to 1 1/2 cups of vermicelli noodles.  

Then top the noodles with pork, 

pickled carrots and radish (I added egg rolls as well), 

and cucumbers.  

Drizzle with 1 teaspoon of scallion oil 

and sprinkle with peanuts.  

To serve, top with additional herbs and a few tablespoons of nuoc cham and mix to combine ingredients.  Try to get a little bit of everything in each bite!

Pickled carrots and radishes
Yields 1 cup
Print this recipe


Ingredients
1 medium carrot
1 daikon radish, same size as carrot
1 cup water
3 teaspoons rice vinegar
3 teaspoons granulated sugar
Kosher salt


Directions
1. Slice carrots and radishes into very thin strips.  Use a mandoline if you have one.  If not, or if you don't have the blade that juliennes, then do the following: 

Cut the radish into thin strips lengthwise (I used a mandoline for this)

Stack them on top of each other

And cut those strips into sticks

Repeat with the carrots!

One caveat - your knife needs to be very sharp for this to cut the veggies into the thinnest strips possible.  If you don't have a sharp knife or aren't very good with a knife, then you can just use a cheese grater.
2. Combine water, vinegar, sugar, and salt in a bowl.  Put the vegetables into the marinade for 1 hour in the refrigerator prior to serving.


Scallion oil
Yields 1/4 cup
Print this recipe


Ingredients
1/4 cup canola or peanut oil
4 scallions


Directions
1. Cut the shallots (both green and white parts) on the bias like so:

2. Heat the oil over medium-low heat.  Stir in the scallions and fry until golden.  They should go from 

this

to this.

Notice how they are still a tiny bit green when you take them off the heat.  The oil is hot and will continue to cook the scallions off the heat until they become crispy.  Be very careful not to cook until the scallions are brown or they will become bitter.  
3. Pour into a glass bottle or jar, seal tightly, and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. If you'd like, you can separate the scallions from the oil so they stay crispy.


Nuoc Cham 
Serves 4
Print this recipe


Ingredients
4 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 lime
1/2 cup fish sauce (nuoc mam - found in Asian markets)
1/2 cup water
1 small Thai chile (optional)


Directions
1. Peel and smash garlic.  Place in a mortar with the sugar and grind into a paste. (If you do not have a mortar and pestle, just mince the garlic very very finely and mix it with the sugar in a bowl. Use the back of a spoon to smash the garlic and sugar together against the side of the bowl).  If you choose to use the chile, grind it with the garlic and sugar.
2. Add the juice from the lime, fish sauce, and water.  Mix well.  If it tastes a little too strong, dilute it with additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time.  The mixture should be salty, sweet, and a little tart, but should not taste very fishy.  If it does taste fishy, add a little more sugar and water until it tastes right.


***Variation: substitute half of the water and 1/2 tablespoon of sugar for 1/4 cup 7-up or Sprite.



I hope you enjoy!  If you have any questions, feel free to message me.


Now, time to cuddle :)


xoxo <3


Nhu-Y

Thank you picasion.com!

P.S. Ok, maybe this isn't that awesome, but it's the first .gif I've ever made!