Fragrant, explosively flavorful, and fast enough to whip up on tightly scheduled nights, this vibrant Vietnamese inspired pork patties salad is deeply satisfying without weighing you down. The super fresh salad laden with crisp vegetables, invigorating herbs, and delicately chewy rice noodles acts as a light counterpoint to the succulent, savoury, meaty grilled pork patties.
Pork Patties
I love the bold flavours and interplay of temperatures and textures in Vietnamese cuisine. The harmony that is achieved between hot and cold, sweet and tangy, spicy and delicate cannot be beat.
And Việt food is gorgeous! All the vibrant rainbow vegetables fill me with joy. The closest Vietnamese restaurant to me is a solid ninety minute drive, though, so I usually have to rely on my own cooking to get my fix.
When I do get to my favourite Vietnamese restaurant, my standard order is Bún Chả. I am absolutely powerless against a plate covered with tender greens, loaded with fresh herbs and delicate rice vermicelli, and piled high with the most gorgeous, glistening, fragrant, flavourful grilled pork patties. I could eat this every day of the week and twice on Sundays.
The most authentic version of this recipe is cooked over charcoal. The smoky char on the patties is divine.
If you don’t have a charcoal grill, though, this heavenly dish is still 100% do-able. I’ve included instructions for making the recipe using a charcoal grill, gas grill, grill pan, and -in a pinch- an air fryer.
Thankfully, this is one dish that is easy to make at home! It is one of my personal favourite ways to rock dinner on a busy weeknight and it makes your kitchen smell divine!
Bún Chả
For day-to-day dining, I love to plate servings abundantly filled with all the goodies. Some folks like to serve each of the components separately and let folks assemble their own, though. I’m more inclined toward the latter option when I make this to serve at a party.
To achieve some of the distinctive qualities of Việt cuisine, you need to use some specific ingredients. For starters, you will need fish sauce.
If you haven’t cooked with fish sauce before, you may want to go easy sniffing the contents of the bottle. It is undoubtedly funky, and until you have tasted the magic it creates, it might be off-putting to the uninitiated.
Stick with it, though. There is a depth and complexity to fish sauce that nothing else can mimic. In small amounts it provides the ultimate umami without being overtly fishy. In larger amounts, like in nước chấm- it delivers a seriously incomparable savoury bomb of flavour.
Once you are aware of its powers, you’ll be sliding it into everything. I even add a splash of it to my spaghetti sauce.
Now let’s talk noodles, because bun cha is most often served with noodles. Super fine rice vermicelli are the most traditional choice for this salad, but all I had on hand the last time I made them was flat rice noodles from Wegmans.
I’m here to tell you they were delicious. The moral of the story is use the rice noodles you have on hand, cook them according to package instructions, and rinse them in icy cold water. All shall be well!
Vietnamese Pork Patties
These pork patties are easy enough to whip up and make fresh, but they also freeze like a treat for a meal that’s faster than any take-out option! I love to grill up a big batch on a weekend and divide them into serving sized portions to stash in the freezer.
When I have these frozen, all I need to do is assemble a salad or a bowl of rice while I reheat them and dinner is done. And no ambition is required to meal-prep these fabulous salads for lunch. I drop a couple of the patties into the bottom of a quart jar, top with fresh herbs and lettuce, and add a little container of nuoc cham on the side -and voilà!- lunch is ready to go!
Let’s have word or two about nuoc cham. First, it’s incredible. It’s tangy, sweet, spicy, savoury, and very powerful. A little of it goes pretty far in a dish, but it is indispensable. In addition to drizzling over the salad as a dressing, I soak the pork patties in it after grilling them, but that’s optional.
It’s used as a salad dressing in many dishes, a dipping sauce for summer rolls, a base for other sauces, and much more. Thankfully, it is wildly simple to throw together and keeps incredibly well for a couple of weeks in the fridge. If you have extra on hand, you may want to whip up a tantalizing Shaking Beef salad to use some of it up.
While the baking soda may sound like an odd addition to meat patties, science backs me up here. Baking soda raises the ph of the meat which keeps it moist while allowing it to brown beautifully.
Want another great light-speed recipe that uses ground pork? Try the crisp-edged nuggets of ground pork and chewy rice noodles combine with irresistible, gingery, garlicky sauce with quick stir fried bell peppers and green onions in crispy pork noodles that are crispy pork noodles.
Bún Chả – Vietnamese Pork Patties
Rate RecipeIngredients
FOR THE NUOC CHAM:
- 3 tablespoons white sugar for clearest sauce or raw sugar (for best flavour)
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1 birds eye chili pepper seeded and finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic peeled and minced
FOR THE PORK PATTIES:
- 1 pound ground pork
- 6 green onions thinly sliced, or a small shallot, peeled and minced
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 2 teaspoons raw sugar or granulated white sugar
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons lemongrass paste optional
FOR THE SALAD:
- 8 ounces rice vermicelli or flat rice noodles See Notes
- 8 cups spring greens or torn butter or Boston lettuce
- 1 cup shredded or julienned carrot
- 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves See Notes!
- 1 cup fresh mint leaves
- 1 English cucumber thinly sliced with a vegetable peeler
- Sriracha optional
Instructions
TO MAKE THE NUOC CHAM
- Mix all of the ingredients together and set aside. You can double or triple this recipe and store it in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
TO MAKE THE PORK PATTIES
- Use your hands or a mix-and-chop to mix all of the patty ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Divide the pork mixture into 12 equal sized portions, roll into balls, and set them on a plate. Slightly flatten the balls into 1/2-inch thick patties.
TO PREPARE THE GRILL/GRILL PAN/AIR FRYER
- IF USING A CHARCOAL GRILL (preferred method): Completely open bottom vent. In half of the grill, start 6 quarts of charcoal briquettes. Set cooking grate in place. When coals are partially ash covered, proceed.
- IF USING A GAS GRILL: Turn all burners to high, cover, and heat grill until hot, about 15 minutes. Leave all burners on high.
- IF USING A GRILL PAN: Brush lightly with cooking oil and place over medium high heat.
- IF USING AN AIR FRYER: Preheat air fryer for 10 minutes at 400ºF.
- Oil cooking grate/pan/or air fryer.
COOK PATTIES AS FOLLOWS:
- IF USING A CHARCOAL GRILL: Cook directly over coals, covered, with the lid valve open completely for about 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until well charred.
- IF USING A GAS GRILL: Cook on the grate, covered, for about 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until well charred.
- IF USING A GRILL PAN: Cook over medium high heat for 3 to 5 minutes per side, or until well charred.
- IF USING AN AIR FRYER: Air fry in a single layer without crowding the air fryer basket for 8 minutes, flipping halfway through the cooking time, or until charred in places. You may need to do this in batches, depending on your air fryer’s size.
- Transfer the cooked patties to the bowl with nuoc cham and gently toss to coat. Let stand for 5 minutes.
TO ASSEMBLE THE SALAD:
- Divide the salad greens between 4 plates OR pile onto a serving platter. Tear the cilantro and mint over the greens. Pile the grated carrots and rice noodles on top of the greens (dividing between plates if serving individually). Use tongs to lift the patties from the sauce and arrange them on the plate. Serve with the nuoc cham and optional sriracha for drizzling over each serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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