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Vietnamese Vermicelli Salad Bowls with Ground Pork + Quick Pickles

Vietnamese Vermicelli Salad Bowls with Ground Pork + Quick Pickles

This fresh salad from Create Cooking Challenge 2018 grand-prize winner Kiya Schnorr consists of vermicelli rice noodles, savory lemongrass ground pork, pickled carrots and daikon radish. Note from Kiya: In the video that accompanies this recipe, it is stated that only vinegar and salt are necessary for pickling, but vinegar alone is the only truly necessary component for preservation. Vinegar pickles also typically call for water, salt and sugar which play their own roles: water dilutes the vinegar to make pickles more palatable, and salt and sugar add flavor and preserve color and texture.

Recipe Ingredients

  • - Makes 2 large bowls to serve 2-4
  • Do chua (pickles)
  • - 1 cup rice vinegar
  • - 3 tbsp sugar
  • - 1 tbsp salt
  • - 1 cup water
  • - 1 cup julienned or grated carrots
  • - 1cup julienned or grated daikon radish
  • Pork
  • - ¼ tsp baking soda
  • - 1 tbsp water
  • - 2 small shallots, roughly chopped
  • - 4 inches lemongrass, cut into ½ inch pieces
  • - 4 cloves garlic
  • - 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • - 1 lb ground pork
  • Nước chấm (sauce):
  • - 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • - 3 tbsp fresh lime juice
  • - 1.5 tbsp sugar
  • - ¼ cup hot water
  • - 1 hot chili, such as birds eye, thinly sliced (optional)
  • Bún bowls
  • - 4 oz dried vermicelli rice noodles 6 lettuce leaves, torn
  • - Half an English cucumber, seeds removed if desired, and sliced on the bias
  • - ½ cup fresh mint leaves
  • - 6 scallions, light and dark green parts only, thinly sliced on the bias
  • - ⅓ cup roughly chopped roasted, unsalted peanuts

Recipe Instructions

Do chua (pickles)

- In a medium saucepan, stir together the vinegar, sugar, salt, and water over medium high heat. Simmer and stir until the sugar and salt have completely dissolved, then pour over the carrots and daikon radish in a large bowl and let cool to room temperature. Use right away, or store vegetables with brine in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 6 weeks.

Bún bowls

- Marinade the pork: In a small bowl, whisk together the baking soda and water until combined. Add to a food processor along with the shallots, lemongrass, garlic, and fish sauce and pulse together until well chopped into small pieces. In a large bowl, massage the mixture into the ground pork until well incorporated, then cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to overnight.

- Make the nước chấm: In a small bowl, whisk together all ingredients until the sugar has dissolved completely. Set aside

- Heat a large cast iron pan over high heat. When hot, add the pork and break up with a wooden spoon, then leave undisturbed to brown for 5 minutes or so before stirring and breaking up again. Cook until fully browned and cooked through, about 10 minutes.

- Meanwhile, bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Cook the vermicelli noodles until chewy-tender (about 3-5 minutes) and drain. Rinse thoroughly with cold water until cooled through and set aside.

- Construct the bowls with a layer of lettuce leaves at the bottom, followed by the noodles, pork, cucumbers, mint, scallions, peanuts, and do chua. Drizzle with the nước chấm and serve.