Author Notes
This salad is a variation of my favorite Vietnamese fast food, "Bun Cha". As a surgical resident in Grand Rapids, Michigan, I discovered a small Vietnamese restaurant. My wife and I immediately fell in love with the southeast asian flavor profiles. We have spent many meals in this restaurant with Chef and his wife Lilly sitting at our table. That was 22 years ago and today our pantry is stuffed with southeast asian staples. All of the ingredients in this recipe can be easily found in your local Asian Market. —bill
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Ingredients
- pork and marinade
-
1.5 pounds
pork tenderloin, sliced into bite sized 1/4 inch slices
-
6 sprigs
lemongrass, white parts only, sliced thin
-
1 tablespoon
light brown sugar
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1 tablespoon
Chili Garlic Sauce
-
1 tablespoon
sesame oil
-
2 tablespoons
chinese vinegar
-
.25 cups
soy sauce
-
.25 cups
fish sauce
-
1 tablespoon
minced garlic
-
.5 pieces
small red onion,sliced
-
.5 cups
chopped thai basil
-
.5 cups
chopped cilantro
-
1
lemon,juice and zest
-
.5 teaspoons
salt
-
.5 teaspoons
fresh ground pepper
- For the Salad and garnish
-
1 pound
rice stick (thin rice noodles)
-
2 cups
sliced green onion
-
2 cups
bean sprouts
-
2 cups
cilantro, roughly chopped
-
2 cups
thai basil,torn
-
4
limes, quartered
-
2
jalapeno pepper, thinly sliced
-
.5-1 cups
rice wine vinegar
-
1 tablespoon
toasted sesame seeds
-
1.5 tablespoons
sesame oil
-
salt and pepper to taste
-
Garnish:spring roll fish sauce, chili garlic sauce and Sriracha sauce
Directions
-
Combine marinade ingredients with pork in large resealable bag, mix, place in bowl and refrigerate at least one hour.
-
Add rice stick to large pot of salted, boiling water for 5-7 minutes. Strain and place in large bowl. Add rice wine vinegar, sesame oil and sesame seeds. Reserve.
-
Preheat grill to medium high. Brush grate and wipe on vegetable oil. Remove pork from marinade and pat dry. Grill pork so that outside chars and inside remains moist, about 1-3 minutes per side, depending on grill. Remove to warm plate, loosely cover with foil and reserve.
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Assemble: divide noodles into 4 large bowls. Add bean sprouts, green onions, cilantro, basil, jalapeno slices and lime quarters equally. Gently toss adding additional rice wine vinegar as necessary. Salt and pepper to taste. Add equal portions of pork slices to each salad. Have bowls of fish sauce, chili garlic sauce and sriracha sauce for garnish.
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