Vietnamese Pork & Rice Vermicelli Bowl

• 600 gpork mince
• 3garlic cloves, minced
• 1thumb-sized piece ginger, grated
• 3 tbspfish sauce
• 1 tbspsoy sauce
• 1 tbsppalm sugar or brown sugar
• 1 tbspvegetable oil
• 200 grice vermicelli noodles
• 1large carrot, cut into thin matchsticks
• ½cucumber, cut into thin matchsticks
• 100 gbeansprouts
• 15 gfresh mint and coriander
• 2red chillies, sliced
• 30 groasted peanuts, roughly chopped
• 2limes, juiced
• Fine salt and black pepper
• 4 tbspnuoc chăm dipping sauce (optional)
• 160 gpickled daikon and carrot (đồ chua) (optional)
• 200 gbutter lettuce leaves (optional)

Method

1. 1Soak the rice vermicelli in a bowl of boiling water for 5 minutes until tender, then drain and rinse thoroughly under cold water; this stops the cooking and keeps the strands loose rather than gluey.
2. 2While the noodles soak, season the pork mince generously with salt and pepper and have your aromatics ready by the hob. Stir-fries move fast; everything chopped before the oil goes in.
3. 3Heat the vegetable oil in a large wok or stainless steel pan over high heat until it shimmers. Add the pork mince in two batches, pressing it into a single layer and leaving it alone for 2 minutes before breaking it up. Crowd the pan and the meat steams in its own water; give it room and you get the deep brown crust and crisp catching edges that carry this dish. 6–8 minutes total per batch.
4. 4Return all the pork to the pan, push it to one side, and add the garlic and ginger to the cleared space. Stir for 30 seconds, just until fragrant and pale gold.
5. 5Pour in 1 tbsp fish sauce, the soy sauce and 2 tsp of the sugar. Toss everything together and let it bubble for 2 minutes until the liquid reduces and lacquers the mince in a glossy, mahogany glaze. Taste; most of the salt comes from the fish sauce, so adjust with a pinch more sugar if it's too sharp, or a splash of water if it's pulling tight.
6. 6Whisk remaining 2 tbsp fish sauce with the lime juice, remaining 1 tsp sugar, and the sliced chillies to make the dressing. Taste again; it should land sharp, salty, and gently sweet, with the lime juice cutting clean through the heat.
7. 7Divide the vermicelli between four bowls. Arrange the carrot and cucumber matchsticks, beansprouts, and torn mint and coriander around the edges in distinct piles; the joy of this bowl is mixing it yourself at the first bite.
8. 8Pile the pork into each bowl, spoon over the chilli-lime dressing and scatter with peanuts. Add any of the optional nuoc cham, pickles and lettuce if using.

Per serving

kcal

671

protein

33.1g

fibre

3.8g

carbs

56.3g

fat

34.7g