As promised on Wednesday – Vietnamese pork noodle bowls! This popular salad-type dish is called bun thit nuong – vermicelli noodles topped with fresh and pickled vegetables, herbs and Vietnamese lemongrass pork, doused generously with nuoc cham sauce. Fresh yet full of flavour.
Vietnamese pork noodle bowls
I find it funny that pho is the dish that’s become the superstar of Vietnamese food when bun thit nuong is tastier to me! I adore the contrast of fresh vegetables and herbs with delicious grilled meats, that it’s light and healthy yet anything but dull.
It’s a big bowl of delicious, and I shared the chicken version many years ago (bun ga nuong). And as soon as I cracked the pork version, I shared in immediately (just last Wednesday!). And I’m back today with the noodle bowls recipe that is made using the lemongrass pork – just like you get on the streets of Vietnam!
PS The photo below is in my own home. Not the streets of Vietnam!
What you need for Vietnamese pork noodle bowls
There’s variations of bun thit nuong all across Vietnam. But they all have noodles, marinated pork, raw vegetables and sauce.
Lemongrass marinated pork
See separate recipe posted earlier this week. Thin 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. Meanwhile, a smidge of baking soda is the secret that tenderises economical pork shoulder, which is usually slow cooked, and keeps the thin pork steaks incredibly tender even when cooked over high heat for a lovely char!
The noodles, vegetables & topping
So here’s what I use – typical of Vietnamese restaurants and takeaway places here in Sydney:
Vermicelli rice noodles – the thin rice noodles prepared by soaking in boiling water. Substitute with other white noodles or bean thread noodles / glass noodles (
Pickled carrot and daikon – quick and easy! See below for more.
Nuoc cham sauce – the chilli-garlic-savoury-limey-sauce served with “everything” in Vietnam (and that’s no exaggeration!). See below.
Lettuce – Either soft butter lettuce torn into bite size pieces or crisp lettuce, like iceberg or cos/romaine, shredded
Cucumber and bean sprouts
Herbs – mint and coriander/cilantro. Thai Basil is also lovely!
Peanuts – finely chopped, for sprinkling
Fresh chilli slices – optional
Lime wedges – for optional extra freshness
Vietnamese pickled vegetables
The pickled vegetables (pictured above) are the same as the recipe in the Banh Mi recipe. It’s simple to make – mix then soak for 2 hours. It’s the perfect texture-flavour addition to these bowls – the vegetables still have a great crunch to them but are floppy (nobody wants pokey raw carrot batons sticking out in their noodle bowls!) with a sweet, tangy flavour.
So much more interesting than raw carrots!
Here’s what you need. Just mix, then pickled the vegetables for 2 hours or even overnight.
Nuoc cham sauce for Vietnamese pork noodle bowls
The sauce used for Vietnamese pork noodle bowls is Nuoc Cham. As mentioned above, this is the sauce that’s served with “everything” in Vietnam though there’s variations depending on what it’s used for. Sometimes it’s sweeter, some fishier (when used sparingly for dipping), some milder (when used in an almost soup-like form – like with Vietnamese Meatballs bun cha).
Today’s version is fairly mild, not too fishy, because it’s supposed to be used to douse everything generously. Nobody wants to get to the rice noodles at the bottom of the bowl only to find it’s tasteless!
Here’s what you need to make nuoc cham sauce. Just mix together!
Assembling the pork noodle bowls
Noodles first. Then just pile everything on top! There are no rules, just jam it all in. Abundance is the word that comes to mind with these bowls!
Finish with a good sprinkle of peanuts and fresh chilli if you dare (live life on the edge, I say!). And serve with jugs or bowls of the nuoc cham sauce on the side and douse generously. Remember, this is a mild flavoured nuoc cham, not a fishy one. So you need lots. You’re supposed to use lots!
Getting stuck in
As for the eating part, there really are no rules. Some people (like me) will pick out some of the pork bits first because it’s their favourite part of the bowl. Then mix it up and get stuck in. It will end up looking like a jumbled up mess. A delicious one, at that! And don’t be afraid to keep adding more sauce on an as-need basis, as you continue through your bowls.
DIY spread – great for gatherings!
One last tip! This dish is a great one for gatherings. In fact, the chicken version was for many years my signature for summer BBQ’s. Lay out all the toppings and noodles on a table. Cook the chicken on the BBQ then let everybody put their own bowls together.
One of my favourite formats for entertaining – DIY.
Hope you enjoy! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Vietnamese pork noodle bowls (bun thit nuong)
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)
Vietnamese pickled vegetables (Note 2)
- 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)
Nuoc cham Vietnamese sauce (Note 3):
- 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
Make pickled vegetables:
- 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.
Pork bowls:
- 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!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
The most dangerous photo shoots are the ones that take place on the ground – so I can get up real high above it to fit everything in the frame.
We loved this recipe. My daughter in law gave it an 11 out of 10!!! All agreed dinner tonight was top shelf (me and my husband, my daughter in law and my son, and my other son who is 22).
Looking forward to making this tonigh!, it has always been my favourite Vietnamese lunch choice since the early 1990s when I first had it at the Pho Pasteur when I was working near Bankstown (famous in Saigon, Paris and Sydney, according to their slogan!!) I like Pho, but for me this wins hands down!!
Truly delicious. Have been waiting to find a great Vietnamese noodle recipe and this was it! So delicious. Will be making this often and trying out different meats, etc. I’m thinking combo bowl! Thank you for sharing!
Absolutely loved this. Partner who was apprehensive when I put the marinade together (hello fish sauce) could smell the pork on the barbecue and decided he’d give it a go. He loved it – thankfully, as Vietnamese food is my fave and he never wants to give it a go! I try a new recipe from your site most weeks and this is right up there with the best. Thank you!
OMG! This is the first dish since I went to Asia that actually tasted like the food I had there. Sweet, spicy, salty, sour. So fresh! This is an amazing recipe! Thank you so much!
This was DELICIOUS. So flavorful. Our kitchen smelled like a real Vietnamese restaurant. It did take us longer than 30 minutes to prep everything, though.
This is outstanding! The meat is so tender (great trick with the baking soda). The meal tastes altogether very flavourful and fresh. Thanks so much for sharing:)
Made the recipe following it to the letter. Please save me from wanting to eat this everyday, it’s just pure perfection! It’s a perfect dish to make for guests as you can make pretty much all of it a few days in advance & just bbq the pork on the day of eating. Rice noodles reheat in the microwave really well, so you can cook those in advance too.
Wonderfull, for the 3 generations that were assembled last weekend …Since this is pretty light, we finished with a Chocolate custard cake (with some tweaks to boost the chocolate taste)…The perfect meal !!
A terrific dish! Your recipe and video are straight-forward and informative (in fact, I showed my wife the video when she asked if there was any particular way to assemble her bowl so she could judge for herself). This was fun to make and even better to eat. We’ll make this again.
Amazing! So tasty. The pork marinade turns tough meat into melt in your mouth. First time pickler, so kept some plain in case family didn’t like it – they loved it! Will definitely do this one again.
I made this yesterday- with a few changes (used chicken) and my husband and grandson both loved it- Husband commented on the dish having ‘lots of flavour’ and grandson said this was one of his favorite things that I have cooked. Thanks Nagi!
OMG this was so good and easy. The only error was I didn’t read recipe correctly and didn’t allow enough time to pickle my carrot. I just popped it on fresh. Family loved it.
I love this. Pork is so tender and yummy 😋
This recipe is like a “sign”!! We were in Vietnam just a week ago and absolutely loved this delicious Vietnamese Pork Noodle bowl. Have to remake it at home 🙂 Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe!
Nagi!!!!
OMG! This is amazing. My lips are still tingling. I love Vietnamese food. This was perfect in every way. I’ll be dreaming about it for days. This was better than the same dish at my favorite Vietnamese restaurant. Don’t forget the Sriracha :).
Hi Nagi, I note the recipe calls for ‘rice vinegar’ for the picked veg, and ‘rice wine vinegar’ for the nuoc cham. I thought these were different names for the same thing, but the distinction in the recipe has me unsure. Are you able to confirm?
This was lovely! The pork was amazing, I really didn’t think shoulder would be so lush with a short cooking time. Daikon doesn’t seem to be a thing where I live in the UK, but Google suggested parsnips instead and Wow! Amazing. Defo will be making this again 🥰
Hi Nagi,
I relocated to the Savannah, GA area from Northern VA a few years back and we do not have any decent Asian groceries stores, to my chagrin…
As you have limes already mentioned, would you suggest them or lemons as a substitute for lemongrass…
thx
TBH Lemongrass has such a unique taste and aroma, I’m not sure what you could substitute it with without taking away the characteristics of this dish. Are you able to locate any lemongrass paste? I have been able to locate at my local Walmart in the refrigerated section by the salad and fresh herbs and also just today bought a tube at Aldi’s. The tubes at Aldi’s are shelf stable and I’ve sometimes seen them by the spices area or in the “Aldi Finds” area. My guess you’d also find it elsewhere. Good Luck.
Wendy,
Thanks much; I didn’t think of looking for a paste…
BTW, I get my firm tofu in that aisle of WallyWorld for my Hot & Soup…
Again, Domo Arigato…
r/
Marcel
Amazing pork. Once again a great recipe