Vietnamese Inspired BBQ Pork Salad
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Serves: 4-6
 
A delicious refreshing main course salad.
Ingredients
  • Pork Marinade
  • ¼ cup fresh lime juice
  • ¼ cup water
  • 2 tablespoons fish sauce
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ½ medium onion chopped
  • 2 pounds pork butt or country style ribs
  • Salad Dressing Ingredients:
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • ¼ cup rice vinegar
  • ¼ lime juice
  • ¼ cup fish sauce
  • ¼ cup water
  • ⅓ cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce
  • 2 cloves of chopped garlic
  • Salad Ingredients:
  • 4 cups chopped green leaf lettuce
  • 4 oz. (one bundle) rice vermicelli noodles cooked
  • 1 cup chopped toasted peanuts
  • 1 cup julienne carrots
  • 1 cup bean sprouts
  • ½ cup cilantro, chopped
  • ½ cup Thai basil chopped
  • ¼ cup green onion slivered
  • 1 cup toasted peanuts
Instructions
  1. To make the marinade add the lime juice, water, fish sauce, olive oil, soy sauce, and sugar to a small sauce pan. Whisk the ingredients then cook the sauce (to a boil) then remove from heat. Transfer the sauce to a medium bowl and allow it to cool to room temperature.
  2. When the sauce is ready, add the onions and pork. Massage the meat with your hands for a few minutes. Allow the meat to marinate for at least 1 hour, but overnight is best.
  3. To make the salad dressing, whisk all the dressing ingredients and store in a sealed container in the refrigerator until ready to use. Ideally, the dressing should be made several hours ahead of time in order to give the sugar time to dissolve. If you need the dressing sooner, feel free to cook the dressing on the stove and whisk the liquids until the sugar has dissolved. Allow the dressing to cool down before using.
  4. When you’re ready to make the salad bowl, cook the vermicelli noodles according to package instructions, making sure to drain and rinse the noodles in cold water. Set aside. *You may want to use kitchen shears to cut the noodles a few times. This makes it easier to handle and distribute the noodles between plates.
  5. Pre-heat a grill pan or grill on medium high heat. Lightly season the pork with salt and pepper just before cooking. Cook the pork until the internal temperature is 140F degrees. Remove the meat from heat and allow it to rest for 5 minutes. Cut the pork in thin slices against the grain or into bite sized pieces.
  6. Side note: I typically grill meat indoors using my cast iron grill.
  7. To assemble the salad, layer the lettuce on the bottom of each plate (4-6 servings). Add the noodles in the center of each bowl on top of the lettuce. Take the individual elements like the pork, carrots, cucumber, bean sprouts, basil, cilantro, and green onions and place them around the noodles on the outer edge of the plate/bowl. Lastly, top each salad off with the toasted peanuts.
  8. Serve each salad with individual bowls of salad dressing for dipping or tossing into the salad directly. Enjoy!
Recipe by Savory Sweet Life at https://savorysweetlife.com/spring-is-here-vietnamese-inspired-bbq-pork-salad/