Pork bun cha with mango salad and vermicelli
I adore this recipe – the Pork Bun Cha (little meatballs with vermicelli noodles) are inspired by my travels around Vietnam and the mango and raw bok choy salad is fresh, light, crunchy and zesty with a sweet, sour and salty nuoc cham dressing.
Ingredients
Pork bun cha
- 300 g pork mince
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- ½ shallot finely diced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon ginger finely grated
Vermicelli
- 100 g dried mung bean vermicelli noodles glass noodles
- sesame oil drizzle
Nuoc cham dressing
- lime juice of 1
- 1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce or soy sauce use GF soy sauce if required
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 clove garlic minced
- ½ chilli finely chopped (remove seeds if you don’t like heat)
Mango salad
- 1 mango, firm, ripe peeled and diced 1cm
- ½ shallot finely diced
- 3 baby bok choy finely sliced (discard bottom 1cm of the stem)
- 1 carrot peeled and grated or cut into thin matchsticks
- 1-2 handfuls mung bean sprouts
- 2 teaspoons sesame seeds
- 1-2 teaspoons fish sauce or soy sauce to taste (use GF soy sauce if required)
- lemon juice of 1
To serve
- ½ cup fresh herbs coriander, mint or thai basil would all work, chopped
Instructions
- BRING a full kettle to the boil. If you’re planning on using the BBQ, preheat the hotplate.
- In a medium bowl, mix all pork bun cha ingredients together using clean hands and season with freshly ground black pepper. Use a tablespoon measure to roll into small balls then flatten slightly. Heat a drizzle of oil in a large fry-pan on medium heat (or on the BBQ hotplate) and cook patties for 3–4 minutes each side, until browned all over and just cooked through.
- Place vermicelli noodles in a medium, heat-proof, bowl (or a pot) and pour over boiling water to cover. Stir and leave to soak for about 5 minutes until soft and tender, then drain and rinse under cold water to prevent them sticking together. Snip in a few places with kitchen scissors to make them easier to eat and toss with a little drizzle of sesame oil.
- In a small bowl, mix all nuoc cham dressing ingredients together.
- To make the salad, combine mango, shallot, bok choy, carrot, mung bean sprouts and sesame seeds in a medium bowl. Just before serving add fish sauce and lemon juice and toss to combine.
- To serve, divide noodles, pork bun cha and mango salad between plates. Garnish with fresh herbs and drizzle over nuoc cham dressing.
Notes
Mix the pork bun cha ingredients and shape into patties in advance, making this super quick when you’re ready to cook. If you’d like this yummy recipe (and lots of others) AND all of the ingredients delivered to your door, check out My Food Bag! This recipe serves 2, however you can easily increase the quantities to serve more people.