Scrambled Eggs, Cheese, and Avocado Tortilla Bowl Recipe
September 16, 2025
Vietnamese lemongrass pork noodle bowls (bun thit nuong) Recipe
As promised on Wednesday – Vietnamese pork noodle bowls! This widespread salad-type dish is known as bun thit nuong – vermicelli noodles topped with contemporary and pickled greens, herbs and Vietnamese lemongrass pork, doused generously with nuoc cham sauce. Recent but filled with flavour.
I discover it humorous that pho is the dish that’s turn out to be the famous person of Vietnamese meals when bun thit nuong is tastier to me! I like the distinction of contemporary greens and herbs with scrumptious grilled meats, that it’s gentle and wholesome but something however uninteresting.
It’s an enormous bowl of scrumptious, and I shared the chicken model a few years in the past (bun ga nuong). And as quickly as I cracked the pork model, I shared in instantly (simply final Wednesday!). And I’m again at this time with the noodle bowls recipe that’s made utilizing the lemongrass pork – identical to you get on the streets of Vietnam!
PS The picture beneath is in my own residence. Not the streets of Vietnam!
There’s variations of bun thit nuong all throughout Vietnam. However all of them have noodles, marinated pork, uncooked greens and sauce.
Lemongrass marinated pork
See separate recipe posted earlier this week. Skinny slices of pork shoulder are marinated with lemongrass, garlic, lime, fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar which infuses the flesh with a stack of flavour. In the meantime, a smidge of baking soda is the key that tenderises economical pork shoulder, which is often sluggish cooked, and retains the skinny pork steaks extremely tender even when cooked over excessive warmth for a stunning char!
The noodles, greens & topping
So right here’s what I take advantage of – typical of Vietnamese eating places and takeaway locations right here in Sydney:
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Vermicelli rice noodles – the skinny rice noodles ready by soaking in boiling water. Substitute with different white noodles or bean thread noodles / glass noodles (
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Pickled carrot and daikon – fast and simple! See beneath for extra.
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Nuoc cham sauce – the chilli-garlic-savoury-limey-sauce served with “all the things” in Vietnam (and that’s no exaggeration!). See beneath.
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Lettuce – Both smooth butter lettuce torn into chew dimension items or crisp lettuce, like iceberg or cos/romaine, shredded
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Cucumber and bean sprouts
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Herbs – mint and coriander/cilantro. Thai Basil can be beautiful!
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Peanuts – finely chopped, for sprinkling
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Recent chilli slices – optionally available
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Lime wedges – for optionally available additional freshness
Vietnamese pickled greens
The pickled greens (pictured above) are the identical because the recipe within the Banh Mi recipe. It’s easy to make – combine then soak for two hours. It’s the right texture-flavour addition to those bowls – the greens nonetheless have a fantastic crunch to them however are floppy (no one needs pokey uncooked carrot batons protruding of their noodle bowls!) with a candy, tangy flavour.
A lot extra attention-grabbing than uncooked carrots!
Right here’s what you want. Simply combine, then pickled the greens for two hours and even in a single day.
Nuoc cham sauce for Vietnamese pork noodle bowls
The sauce used for Vietnamese pork noodle bowls is Nuoc Cham. As talked about above, that is the sauce that’s served with “all the things” in Vietnam although there’s variations relying on what it’s used for. Generally it’s sweeter, some fishier (when used sparingly for dipping), some milder (when utilized in an virtually soup-like kind – like with Vietnamese Meatballs bun cha).
At present’s model is pretty delicate, not too fishy, as a result of it’s supposed for use to douse all the things generously. No one needs to get to the rice noodles on the backside of the bowl solely to search out it’s tasteless!
Right here’s what it’s good to make nuoc cham sauce. Simply combine collectively!
Noodles first. Then simply pile all the things on prime! There are not any guidelines, simply jam all of it in. Abundance is the phrase that involves thoughts with these bowls!
End with sprinkle of peanuts and contemporary chilli in the event you dare (stay life on the sting, I say!). And serve with jugs or bowls of the nuoc cham sauce on the facet and douse generously. Bear in mind, this can be a delicate flavoured nuoc cham, not a fishy one. So that you want tons. You’re supposed to make use of tons!
As for the consuming half, there actually are not any guidelines. Some folks (like me) will select a number of the pork bits first as a result of it’s their favorite a part of the bowl. Then combine it up and get caught in. It’s going to find yourself wanting like a jumbled up mess. A scrumptious one, at that! And don’t be afraid to maintain including extra sauce on an as-need foundation, as you proceed by means of your bowls.
DIY unfold – nice for gatherings!
One final tip! This dish is a good one for gatherings. In reality, the chicken model was for a few years my signature for summer time BBQ’s. Lay out all of the toppings and noodles on a desk. Prepare dinner the chicken on the BBQ then let all people put their very own bowls collectively.
Considered one of my favorite codecs for entertaining – DIY.
Hope you take pleasure in! – Johnsat x
Ingredients
- 1 batch lemongrass marinated pork (it’s marinated overnight. 8 pieces, serves 4)
- 200g/ 7oz dried vermicelli noodles (Note 1)
- 1 head soft lettuce (like butter lettuce), torn into large bite size pieces (or 4 cups shredded iceberg, cos/romaine)
- 2 cucumbers , halved lengthwise then sliced on the diagonal 3mm / 0.15" thick
- 2 cups bean sprouts
- Handful mint leaves
- Handful cilantro/coriander
- 1/4 cup finely chopped unsalted peanuts
- Sliced red chilli (for garnish – optional)
- Lime wedges (to serve – optional but recommended)
- 2 medium carrots , peeled cut into 2-3mm / 1/10″ batons
- 1/2 large white radish (daikon) , peeled, cut the same as carrots
- 1 1/2 cups boiling water
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 4 tsp cooking salt (kosher salt)
- 3/4 cup rice vinegar (sub apple cider vinegar)
- 4 1/2 tbsp white sugar
- 4 1/2 tbsp fish sauce (Note 3)
- 3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 3 tbsp lime juice
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 birds eye chilli or Thai chilli , deseeded and finely chopped (Note 4)
- 5 cloves garlic , finely chopped
Instructions
- Pickle – In a large bowl, dissolve the salt and sugar in the hot water. Stir in vinegar. Add carrots and daikon – they should just about be covered.
- 2 hours – Leave for 2 hours until slightly floppy. Drain well then use per recipe.
- Nuoc cham sauce – Mix ingredients together. Until sugar is dissolved.
- Vermicelli noodles – Soak in boiling water for 5 minutes (or per packet directions). Drain, rinse under tap water, then cool and drain thoroughly (nobody likes watery noodles!).
- Toppings – Prepare all the other toppings, ready to use.
- Cook pork per the recipe.
- Assemble bowls – Place noodles in a bowl. Top with lettuce, pickled vegetables, cucumber and bean sprouts. Slice pork, place 2 steaks on each bowl. Top with herbs, sprinkle with peanuts and sliced chilli. Add a lime wedge.
- Serve with nuoc cham on the side so everybody can help themselves. Douse generously! Dive in and eat!
Notes
1. Noodles – or glass noodles/bean thread, or other dried rice noodles, preferably thin.
2. Pickled veg – really recommend using this, it’s a quick to prepare 2 hour pickle and you’re rewarded with crunchy-but-floppy tangy veg that’s so much more interesting than plain raw vegetables! Same as the pickled veg used in Banh Mi (chicken and classic pork). Having said that, if you’re in a rush, just use raw but really finely julienne them.
3. Nuoc Cham – This sauce is not as strong / fishy as others you may have tried. It’s intended to be used almost like a soup broth. Adapt this to your taste by adjusting the quantities. You may not use all this sauce – but I don’t want you to run out!
4. Chilli – Birds eye chillies are small red chillies that are quite spicy. To make it less spicy, use large red chillies instead (which are not as hot) or skip it.
5. Nutrition per bowl assuming all the sauce is consumed which it probably won’t be. I’ve also had to make sensible assumptions about the pickles and how much of the sugar, salt etc ends up absorbed in the vegetables.
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