Vietnamese Grilled Pork with Noodles (Bún Thịt Nướng)
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.
17 Comments
Jessie
That looks so fresh and delicious! Wish I had a bowl of it right now!!
Troy Harrison
Man, great pics and instructions. Trying this soon. Dax, you are AWESOME!
Karen McElravy
this is amazingly wonderful…You will love this
Carolette
Does the pork get tender enough with that brief a grilling?
Ashlee Winship
I like Vietnamese food for their variety in food for one meal. Their meal consists complete with all the food groups. Vegetables, meat and carbs. You couldn’t ask for anything more with this.
Tini
I have made this a few times and I love it. The preparation is a bit labour intensive but worth the effort. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Dax Phillips
Hi Tini, you’re right as there is a bit of preparation, but the end result, well, you know, is nothing short of spectacular flavors and texture. One of my favorites.
Mandy
One of my favorite Vietnamese dishes. I’ve been trying to locate the recipe for quite awhile. Thank you also for breaking out the recipe for the pickled carrots, sauce & pork! Yum!!
Dax Phillips
Thanks Mandy! This is a really good recipe. I hope you enjoy it!
Scott
Hey Dax, cannot wait to try this, we doing it tonight (spur of the moment, but we have to do this 🙂 ) Do you think seven hours of the pork marinating will be long enough?
Mitzie
I have made this recipe a few times now. Me and my daughters love it. While one of my daughters was home from college this past weekend we made a huge batch and freezed several bags. I bought 2 boston butts and had them slice it up for me at the grocery stores meat market. (When she was home for her previous visit she took back to college a frozen bag and when she was ready for it, cooked it unfrozen in a pan and said it was absolutely wonderful). So while she was home this time she wanted to take home a few extra bags. I also made me a few to put in my freezer. I can’t wait to try it from after freezing. I am sure it is going to be just as wonderful; my daughter would not steer me wrong. If you love it as we do, because the time involved to make it, try freezing a big batch so when you are ready for it; you will already have it – just pull it out of the freezer!
Dax Phillips
Thanks Mitzie! Glad you enjoyed it. I’ll have to try your idea next time.
Aislinn
I had made Vietnamese rolls earlier that week and had tons of leftover veggies and vermicelli noodles. This was an excellent recipe to finish up the left-overs. I only made the pork and pickled carrots. The pork was delicious and the carrots were crisp.
Moira McGarva-Ratapu
Xien Chiao!!
My family and I have just returned back from Vietnam we fall in love with the food and the price of everything. I have been looking for an authentic Vietnamese dish and marinade since we returned, promising my family that im going to master Vietnamese cooking lol. I cant wait to try this recipe, thanks for sharing I cant wait. I love street food especially bbq’ed meat. Com Tam is our favorite dish. Cumon
Cathy
I just made this and everyone loved it!
Thank you so much for the recipe.
Bonnie
Thanks, Dax, for sharing this recipe! It looks so good, I can’t wait to prepare it for my family – I just know that they will love it!
Nikolai Lugo
WAY too much fish sauce for such a little bit of meat. I made it and the meat tastes like foot, I should have known to use less when I saw there was a whole two tablespoons. Now to salvage this meat since I can’t waste it.