Spice Tribe Bun Thit Nuong- Vietnamese Grilled Pork Chop Recipe
Happy Lunar New Year! Tet also known as Lunar New Year is a holiday that celebrates the arrival of spring and marks the first new moon of the lunisolar calendar. It's a celebration where family members get to gather and feast around comforting traditional Vietnamese foods.
Today I'm making Bun Thit Nuong (Vietnamese noodles with grilled pork). This popular dish consists of flagrantly marinated grilled pork, vermicelli rice noodles, and fresh herbs.
Honey adds a touch of sweetness and helps add color and caramelizes the edges of the pork. And, to make cooking this easier at home, we’re using All Purpose lemongrass spice from Chef Tu's Vietnamese Pantry Kit. Using this spice bundle makes cooking Vietnamese food so much easier by taking out the guess work from buying and mixing a bunch of individual spices.
We're also going to make Nuoc Cham which is the quintessential Vietnamese dipping sauce that consists of fresh lime juice, sugar, red chili peppers, minced garlic and Chef Tu's Son Fish sauce which adds the perfect amount of umami'ness.
I love Spice Tribe because it's a farm-direct spice company that’s harvested in small batches and offers a huge variety of original spice mixes and single origin spices that are sourced directly from small family farms throughout the world.
About Spice Tribe:
I love Spice Tribe because it's a farm-direct spice company that’s harvested in small batches and offers a huge variety of original spice mixes and single origin spices that are sourced directly from small family farms throughout the world. Chef Tu's spice mix and fish sauce combo incorporates heritage flavors of Vietnamese cuisine to make it easier to cook Vietnamese classics.
Spice Tribe is a farm-direct spice brand with tons of unique spice blends, as well as single origin spices sourced directly from small family farms across the globe.
About Chef Tu's collaboration with Spice Tribe:
By giving home cooks the materials they need to make traditional dishes with reminiscence-inducing flavors, this special spice mix and fish sauce combo offers a genuine connection to the rich, varied, and distinctive flavors of Vietnamese cuisine. This set includes Son Premium Fish Sauce (two year aged), nem nuong sausage mix, all purpose lemongrass blend, and a multi-purpose pho seasoning mix.
This exclusive spice blend and fish sauce bundle provide a genuine connection to the rich,
diverse, and unique flavors of Vietnamese cuisine. This Pantry Kit is sold exclusively through Spice Tribe and can be found -here-.
Use my code below for 15% off any purchase (good through February 2022): PHILIPPE15
Recipe
INGREDIENTS
2 lb thin cut pork loin chops (you can also use cuts of pork shoulder or pork belly)
1 package or round rice vermicelli noodles cooked
PORK MARINADE
2 tsp All Purpose Lemongrass Spice from Spice Tribe
1/2 tbs fresh minced lemongrass
2 tbs Son fish sauce
2 tbs oyster sauce
2 tbs light soy sauce
2 tbs honey
2 tbs sesame oil (or sub with vegetable oil)
1/2 tbs black or white pepper
VEGETABLES & HERBS
1 green butter or romaine lettuce (cut thinly)
1 bunch mint (Asian min preferred, rau thom, or regular mint)
1 bunch cilantroOptional Vietnamese herbs:
Vietnamese perilla, tiá tô, *optional herb
Vietnamese balm, kinh giới, *optional herb
GARNISH
1 tbs Fried asian shallots *optional
1 tbs Crushed peanuts *optional
Nuoc Cham Dipping Sauce:
1/2 C lime juice
1/2 C white sugar
1/2 C Son Fish Sauce
2 C warm water
3 garlic cloves (about 1-2 tbs)
1-3 red thai chili peppers (use less for less heat, more for heat)
Optional garnishes:
Pickled daikon and carrots (Du chua)- see recipe -here-
1/2 tbsp scallion oil (mo hahn)- see recipe -here-
PREPARATION
1. Mix marinade ingredients in a bowl.
2. Pour marinade into zip lock bag with pork and seal or mix marinade onto pork with your hands in a bowl. Let marinate the meat for 2-6 hours in fridge, or overnight for best results.
3. Before grilling, bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and add vermicelli noodles and cook by package instructions. Rinse noodles under cold running water and drain in strainer and set aside.
4. Place pork on a wire tray to remove excess marinade/liquid.
*Don’t throw out the marinade, you can use it to brush on extra sauce mid-grilling, OR you pour the leftover marinade in a pan and bring it to a boil for a few minutes (you can brush this over the meat after they’re done for a nice saucy glaze!
5. Preheat grill and set o med-high on all burners and wait till your grill reaches about 375 degrees. Clean your grill using a wire brush and brush a little vegetable oil on the grills so steaks don’t stick to grills.
6. When heat reaches about 375, turn the middle burner down to low, add grill pan and grill pork until pork is cooked through on both sides, about 3-4 min or so on each side depending on the thickness of your pork chops.
7. To make cham dipping sauce. Mix warm water, sugar and fish sauce until sugar is completely dissolved. Then add 1-2 tbs minced garlic and minced red chili peppers to taste (add more for heat, less for less heat)
8. To make vermicelli bowls add some lettuce in a bowl, add some noodles, cut a pork chop into small pieces using a pair of scissors, add fresh herbs and garnishes. Pour a little scallion oil (aka mo hahn) on top of the meat and serve with a side of cham dipping sauce.