Chargrilled pork skewers with vermicelli noodle salad

Bún thịt nuóng

By: Luke Nguyen
From: Street Food Asia
Serves: 4
Photographer: Alan Benson

Cô Giang Street in Saigon’s District 1 is hands-down one of my favourite food streets. As you walk down it, you can see and smell clouds of rich aroma percolating in the air. Where it crosses with Đe Thám Street is my go-to place for this noodle dish, one of the few Vietnamese noodle dishes to be eaten without a broth but, instead, with the popular Vietnamese dipping sauce nuoc cham, and lots of it too – enough to immerse the vermicelli and the fresh herbs. The pork skewers, which are traditionally made up on lemongrass stems, are chargrilled over charcoal, and the aromas of the lemongrass and the herbs are bewitching.

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
2 tablespoons	sugar
4 tablespoons	fish sauce
1 tablespoon	honey
1 teaspoon	freshly ground black pepper
6	spring onions, white parts thinly sliced, plus a few green ends, sliced, to garnish
2	garlic cloves, finely diced
500g	pork neck, thinly cut across the grain into 3 mm thick slices
2 tablespoons	vegetable oil

Vermicelli noodle salad

Quantity	Ingredient
250g	rice vermicelli noodles, cooked according to packet instructions
5	mint leaves, roughly sliced
5	perilla leaves, roughly sliced, (see glossary)
5	vietnamese mint leaves, roughly sliced
1	lebanese cucumber, halved lengthways and sliced
2	handfuls bean sprouts
125ml	Nuoc cham
4 tablespoons	Spring onion oil
4 tablespoons	Fried red Asian shallots
4 tablespoons	crushed roasted peanuts

Method

In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, fish sauce, honey and pepper. Mix until the sugar has dissolved.
Pound the white parts of the spring onions to a paste using a mortar and pestle, then add to the bowl with the garlic and pork. Toss to coat the pork well, then pour over the vegetable oil. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 2 hours, or overnight for an even tastier result.
When you are nearly ready to cook, soak 12 bamboo skewers in water for 20 minutes to prevent scorching. Once marinated, thread the pork onto the skewers, discarding the remaining marinade.
Heat a chargrill pan or barbecue chargrill to medium–high. Chargrill the pork skewers, for 1–2 minutes on each side, or until the meat is cooked through and nicely browned.
Divide the noodles between four serving bowls. Top with the herbs, cucumber and bean sprouts, then sit the pork skewers on top.
Drizzle over the nuoc cham and spring onion oil. Sprinkle with the fried shallots, crushed peanuts and green spring onion slices.