Vietnamese Pork Meatballs - Bun Cha

Bun cha is a noodle dish with rice vermicelli noodles, fresh vegetables & herbs, nuoc cham and grilled fatty pork meatballs. A refreshing and tasty meal perfect for a weeknight dinner.

Bun cha is a Vietnamese dish consisting of grilled pork meatballs with vermicelli noodles and fresh vegetables and herbs. You can also enjoy this dish with pickled vegetables such as pickled carrots and daikon and this is generally served with a side of dipping fish sauce known as nuoc cham. Generally these meatballs are made of minced pork belly for its delicious chewiness and fattiness. This makes for a much better flavor and texture than store bought ground pork but you can still use the store bought for convenience purposes. The meatballs are also usually grilled but in this case, I like to pan fry it on a cast iron skillet.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground pork belly and shoulder

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup minced shallots

1/4 cup minced garlic

Visual Instructions:

Mince the pork, garlic and shallots. Assemble the sauce mixture of fish sauce, oyster sauce, sugar salt and black pepper.

Add the sauce mixture, minced garlic and shallots into the pork and mix thoroughly. Marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Prepare the noodles following the package instructions and rinse lettuce, Thai basil, mint and cilantro. Slice cucumbers and prepare any pickled vegetables as desired.

Scoop about 2 tbsp of the pork and shape into a small patty for faster cooking. Heat up the skillet to medium heat and add 1 tsp vegetable oil.

Add the meatballs to the skillet and cook for about 5 - 7 mins on each side.

Flip the meatballs and cook for an additional 5 - 7 mins on each side.

Meatballs should be fully cooked through and slightly charred.

Serve with noodles, vegetables, herbs and dipping fish sauce!

Directions:

1. Mince the pork, garlic and shallots. Assemble the sauce mixture of fish sauce, oyster sauce, sugar salt and black pepper.

2. Add the sauce mixture, minced garlic and shallots into the pork and mix thoroughly. Marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

3. Prepare the noodles following the package instructions and rinse lettuce, Thai basil, mint and cilantro. Slice cucumbers and prepare any pickled vegetables as desired.

4. Preheat a skillet to medium heat and add 1 tsp vegetable oil.

5. Scoop about 2 tbsp of the pork and shape into a small patty for faster cooking.

6. Add the meatballs to the skillet and cook for about 5 - 7 mins on each side.

7. Flip the meatballs and cook for an additional 5 - 7 mins on the other side.

8. Serve with noodles, vegetables, herbs and dipping fish sauce.