One of the reasons I love living where I live, is that the area is very multicultural. Next door to the pizza store is a Russian Restaurant, next to a Chinese bakery, next to a Malaysian cafe, next to a bagel store. This, all within a few blocks from my home. I am very big on variety of foods and cuisines and having so many different foods is a big treat. One of my favorite places to eat, is a Vietnamese place about two blocks from my house. Their pho is to die for! My husband and I usually order our separate pho bowls and we share a Vietnamese BBQ Pork dish that is incredible. I always crave this pork dish and I decided try and make it. This recipe definitely comes close and it absolutely delicious but its no where near as good at this restaurant. Even so, I will definitely be making this dish again.
Vietnamese Pork
Ingredients For Pork:
2 1/2 tablespoons of garlic, minced
5 tablespoons of fish sauce
4 tablespoons of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper
2 lbs of pork shoulder, sliced thinly
Ingredients for Dipping Sauce (Nuoc Cham):
1/4 cup of sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
1/3 cup of fish sauce
1/2 cup of water
1 teaspoon of garlic, minced
1 carrot, thinly sliced
1 – 2 teaspoons of sriracha (depending on your taste)
Extras:
1 package of rice vermicelli
1 head of lettuce, shredded (I omitted this)
1 bunch of mint
Directions:
- Combine ingredients for marinade and allow pork to marinade for at least 3-4 hours.
- Combine ingredients for sauce and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Place oven rack near the broiler and turn on the broiler.
- Place pork pieces (without marinade) on a large baking tray. Do not overlap any of the pieces.
- Broil pork pieces for about 5-7 minutes, each side, depending on how thinly you sliced the pork (very thin, reduce cooking time, very thick, increase cooking time)
- Remove pork onto a place and cover to rest.
- Set a large pot of water to boil
- When boiling, add vermicelli noodles and cook until tender (according to the package). I cooked mine for 2-4 minutes.
- Drain and rinse with cold water.
- Place noodles on a large plate and top with pork, lettuce and mint.
Serve with Nuoc Cham, hoisin sauce or peanut sauce (recipe coming soon).
Samina Cooks 
Its the same in where I live Auckland City is so multicultural as well. The variety of dishes is endless. I love vietnamese food specially their noodles and spring rolls
Wow, I always wanted to go to New Zealand. Its been a dream ever since I saw the movie “The Piano.” One day, I want to go there and Australia. I have been watching many shows from your area and it seems very multicultural. I envy you!! One day..mark my works, I will be in your part of the world!
Right down to the omitting the lettuce part, that sounds great!
lol I am not a big fan of lettuce…mostly water, light on nutrients. Plus, no one would eat it at my house. This was really yummy 🙂 I hope you try it.
WOW, Samina. I am sitting here looking at this recipe and my mouth is watering. You know I’m making this lol. It reminds me of a place in midtown I went to once. Summer is coming and this is perfect. You did a wonderful job girl 🙂
Thanks Kay! How are you doing? I was away this weekend, visiting my family. I had a great time (even got to bbq a bit). I hope you enjoy this recipe 🙂
I am so jealous lol. I want to BBQ so bad girl. I’m doing great, and of course glad you’re back blogging 😉
Looks SO delicious Samina! I know what you mean about living in a multicultural area, I didn’t realize how important that was to me until I LEFT Atlanta and then I was like “Where are the Asian food markets? Where are the Ethiopian restaurants? Indian restaurants?” Haha there’s nothing like living in a place with cultural diversity, it’s a beautiful thing!
I totally agree 🙂 But I find that, unless you are in the complete middle of nowhere, you can find some variety 🙂 I remember when I was living in Belize and was pleasantly surprised to find really good Lebanese food…ahh Lebanese roasted chicken ….how do I love thee… 🙂