4
votes
6 Comments
Jump to Recipe

Share via

These Vietnamese Pork Bowls feature caramelized pork and an array of crisp and refreshing vegetables in one satisfying bowl.

We’ve been on a “bowl” kick lately at home. I love the idea of gather multiple ingredients for the bowl. It’s a great way to see how ingredients can mix and match, and what flavors and textures go together well. During the winter, we make a lot of Phở tái (beef pho) with similar flavors to this pork bowl.

This bowl has lots of layers and depth of flavor. The pork is marinated in soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, lime juice, honey and garlic, then caramelized at high heat so the flavors deepen as the pork becomes irresistible crunchy. The pickled carrots and daikon add acidity and texture.

>> Pair it with one of these delicious and easy Asian side dishes.

Kate says:
Hi! I absolutely love making this. I’ve made it four times. Each time, I’ve done it on the stove but this time, I’d like to make more of the meat at a time so we can have it for lunches. Does it taste the same if you make it in the crockpot as it does on the stove? I don’t want to change it at all because it’s perfect as is!

Ingredients You Need

There are a lot of ingredients in this dish, because you have to first make the pork, then the slaw, then assemble the bowl. But I promise it’s worth it.

To cut down on some of the work, you could use a store-bought pulled pork that is seasoned with the flavors from our pork recipe. See down below in the recipe card for the exact measurements you need.

For the pork

Cooking oil
Pork shoulder
Soy sauce (low sodium)
Water
Bay leaves
Salt & pepper
Oyster sauce
Lime juice
Fish sauce
Honey

For the slaw

Carrots
Daikon
Warm water
Distilled white vinegar
Sugar
Salt

For the bowl

Vermicelli noodles cooked according to the package
Edamame beans
Cucumber
Cilantro roughly
Green onion

Helpful Tips

Make the pork a day ahead for the best flavor.
The pork needs to caramelize on the stovetop to get slightly crunchy. Use a little bit of cooking oil and don’t move it around in the pan until it’s crispy.
It’s also a good idea to make the Pickled Carrot & Daikon Slaw a day or more ahead as it needs time to marinate and soak up the flavors.
Top your Vietnamese pork bowl with this yum yum sauce. It’s super easy to make and really tasty.

How to Make Vietnamese Pork Bowls

There are a number of components to this dish, so it’s not a quick and easy 15 minute meal. However, you can purchase the more time-consuming pieces of the dish and then it will be a 15-minute meal!

The two elements that take the most time to make are the pork and the carrot and daikon slaw. I make these at home regularly and they are easy enough to do, but they take time. You can often purchase pulled pork and picked carrots.

How to Make the Caramelized Pork

I use pork shoulder for this carmelized pork and I cook it on the stove top. If you’re in a hurry, you can easily make it in the Instant Pot, as well. Or set it in the crock pot to cook while you’re out at work.

I like to make a large batch of pork (using a 2-3 lb boneless pork shoulder. This gives us enough meat for a couple of meals, so it’s more economical for time and cost. However, if you only want to make enough for this recipe, you’ll need 1.5 pounds of pork shoulder.

Cut the pork shoulder into 3 inch chunks and salt and pepper it on all sides. The absolutely critical step is to brown the meat on all sides in a skillet or pan over high heat. Be sure to add some cooking oil to the pan. It will take about 2 minutes per side.

When that’s done, add the broth and de-glaze the pan (use a whisk to get all the little bits of browned goodness off the bottom of the pan). If you’re cooking it on the stove top, add the lid, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 4-5 hours, until the meat becomes tender and falls apart when pulled with a fork.

Meanwhile, mix up the sauce for the meat in a medium bowl that can fit the pork.

Remove the pork from the pan. Shred it into small chunks and add it to the bowl with the sauce. Stir to coat the meat.

Heat up a large skillet over high heat and add cooking oil. When the oil is hot, add the pork to the pan, spreading it out so it’s in a flat layer on the pan. Do not crowd the pork or pile it up, or it won’t get caramelized. Cook the meat in two batches, if necessary. Don’t touch the meat as it cooks. Allow it to crisp up on one side before turning it to crisp on the other side – about 3 minutes per side.

How to Make the Pickled Carrot & Daikon Slaw

For this slaw, you’ll need carrots and daikon radish. I like to make a large batch, because often the daikon is quite large and I don’t want to waste it, but you can make just enough for this dish, if you want.

You need to slice the carrot and daikon into julienne matchsticks or similar. I like to make them using my spiralizer, because it’s fun. Here are two tools you can use to quickly cut the vegetables.

In a large bowl, combine warm water, sugar, salt and vinegar and stir to combine. You need to pickle the vegetables in the brine overnight, so it’s best to place the vegetables in an air tight container. Pour the brine to cover the vegetables. Close the lid and refrigerate for at least 12 hours.

Note: This slaw gets stinky. It’s really tasty and goes well on salads and sandwiches, if there are left overs, but it might not smell too good in your refrigerator. So plan to use it quickly.

Assembling the Bowl

With the pork and slaw ready to go, you can easily assemble the bowls. As a base, we use vermicelli noodles (cooked according to the package instructions), but you can also use plain white or brown rice.

Around the noodles, add half the pork, half the carrot & daikon slaw, the edamame beans, the cucumbers, green onions, and cilantro. Then you can add Sriracha and Yum Yum Sauce to the top, if you want (believe me, you do want!)

That’s all there is to it. If you have left overs from making this, you can save them for lunch the next day. Or use the left overs to make these delicious Vietnamese Banh Mi Sandwiches.

If you like this recipe, you might want to try some of our other international cuisine dishes, like this Thai Panang Curry, or this Japanese Okonomiyaki (cabbage pancake).

How to Store & Reheat

If you happen to have some leftovers, you’ll want to know how to best store and reheat them. The most important tip is to store everything separately. If you’ve already combined the ingredients, you can store it all in one container, but it won’t keep as long – 2-3 days maximum. If kept separately, you can combine the ingredients when you’re ready to eat it and it will keep up to 6 days.

To reheat, all you need to do is cook the pork again on the stovetop like we mentioned in the recipe, and reassemble all of the cold ingredients in a bowl.

Questions About the Recipe

Can I use ground pork?

Yes, it’s fine to use ground pork instead of pork shoulder. You’ll just need to brown the pork and add 1 teaspoon each of the soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, and lime juice to flavor it.

Can I make it with rice?

We like to use vermicelli noodles in this pork bowl, but you can substitute it for rice if you want to make a rice bowl instead.

What are other Vietnamese dishes that use pork?

Besides rice bowls and these Vietnamese dishes with pork:

Thịt Kho Tàu (Caramelized Braised Pork and Eggs): A comforting dish of pork belly slowly braised in coconut water with a sweet and savory caramel sauce, often served with hard-boiled eggs.

Bún Thịt Nướng (Grilled Pork Over Vermicelli Noodles): This dish features marinated grilled pork served over rice vermicelli noodles, topped with fresh herbs, pickled vegetables, and a drizzle of nước chấm (a fish sauce-based dipping sauce).

Other recipes to try

Like it, Love it, Want Some More of It? Subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook. We really love it when you save our recipes to Pinterest 😊

Vietnamese Caramelized Pork Bowls

These Vietnamese Caramelized Pork Bowls feature caramelized pork and an array of crisp and refreshing vegetables in one satisfying bowl.

5 from 4 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 30

Cook Time: 4

Total Time: 4 30

Servings: people

Calories: 512kcal

Author: Laura Lynch