Vietnamese pork and noodle bowl

A chilling summer dish that offers both sweet and savory flavors. Guaranteed no two bites are alike and absolutely none will disappoint.

Primary Ingredients

4 boneless pork chops (about 1/4 to 1.2 inch thick. Cut in half down the middle)

1/2 package rice or vermicelli noodles

Marinade for pork

2T shallot, minced

1T garlic, minced

1/4 C brown sugar

1T fish sauce

1/2T (thick) soy sauce

Pinch of frozen lemongrass

3T canola oil

Black pepper

Combine all elements then drizzle over pork chops in a bag. You may want to cut chops in half to make sure more flavor gets all over the meat.

About a half hour before serving time, cook the noodles according to the package. You don’t want them hot, but cooled when you serve. So make them ahead of time and let them sit in a colander until ready to serve.

Veges in the bowl

Red leaf lettuce, torn

1 cucumber, sliced

pickled carrots and daikon (The day before, chop carrots and daikon into thin strips. Mix enough white, distilled vinegar to cover the veges in a tupperware with 1/4C kosher salt and 1/3C sugar. Then pour over veges and let sit at least overnight in the fridge.)

2 scallions, chopped

handful bean sprouts

fresh mint, lightly chopped

Fresh basil, lightly chopped

Fresh cilantro, lightly chopped

1 Fresh lime, quartered

You can either bake or grill the pork

To Bake

Place pork on a foil-lined baking tray. Heat over to 375 and cook for 15 minutes, flipping once. Now turn the oven to broil and continue cooking, keeping a close eye and flipping once to make sure you don’t overcook.

To Grill

Place the chops over direct heat for about 2 minutes per side. You want the outside slightly charred, but don’t want to overcook the inside and make the meat chewy.

Vietnamese marinated pork from the grill. Two minutes per side over direct heat is all you need.

Drizzle sauce

6T water

2T sugar

3T fresh lime juice

2T fish sauce

1/2 serrano chili, finely sliced

Combine water and sugar in a bowl and stir until dissolved. Add rest of ingredients and stir to combine. Set aside for drizzling on the final bowl.

Place all the veges in their own lanes in large serving bowls. Cluster noodles in one open space. Cut pork off the grill into fork-sized pieces and place them in the bowl.

Assembled pork and noodle bowl — Let each eater decide how to combine all the ingredients per bite.

Serve with drizzle sauce and fresh limes. Squirts of Sirracha or Sambal kick it an even higher heat notch, if need be.