Vietnamese-style Honey Pork & Rice Noodle Salad

Collaboration with Sasha's Fine Food
Dish 1 - Honey mustard rosemary roasted chicken
Dish 2 - Asian chicken skewers with peanut sauce
Dish 3 & 4 - Teriyaki salmon, Chirashi Sushi


The third product I'm showcasing from Sasha's Fine Food is the Wicks Manor English Pork Stir Fry which comes in 250g per pack (frozen); this pack of stir-fry pork uses a lean cut of chump meat - where the leg meets the loin.

The pork is sourced from Wick Manor a small, family-run pig farm in Essex, England. The pigs are fed a natural diet of wheat and barley that is grown and milled on the farm itself. Vitamins, minerals, vegetable oil, soya and biscuit meal are also added to their diet. The natural and clean environment along with healthy diet and lifestyle helps the pork develop a beautiful depth of flavour whilst remaining lean.

For stir-fry pork, I usually cook home-style dishes like stir-fry pork with kailan, potato or sze chuan vegetables and golden mushroom.

This time, I decided to go for something different, a Vietnamese-style Honey Pork and Rice Noodle Salad, which is sweet, tangy, spicy and salty, perfect for this hot and humid weather! 

The Vietnamese call it Bún Thịt Nướng. Bún means noodles, Thịt nướng means baked or barbecued meat and the meat used is always pork. So basically the dish consists of grilled pork, rice vermicelli or noodle, pickles, vegetables, aromatic herbs, all displayed in a colourful arrangement, and finally served with a tangy, spicy, salty fish sauce dressing called nước chấm.


Vietnamese-style Honey Pork & Rice Noodle Salad
(reference from Hungry Huy and Danang Cuisine)

(serves 1-2)


Honey pork

• 250g sliced/stir-fry pork
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 clove shallot
• 1 stalk lemongrass
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp parsley
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp hua tiao cooking wine
• 1 tsp fish sauce
•  1/4 tsp sesame oil

1. Combine all the ingredients except pork into a food processor or electric chopper, blend into a paste.
2. Marinate the pork slices using the paste at least 4hrs or overnight.
3. Before cooking, remove from fridge and let the pork return to room temperature.
4. Set a grill pan or frying pan over medium heat, add 2 tbsp of cooking oil and grill/pan-fry the marinated pork till fully cooked and slightly charred. Set aside.

Pickles

• 2 cups water
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp vinegar
• 4 shallots, peeled
• 1 chili padi, cut into 2-3 pieces
• 1 cucumber, sliced thinly
• 1 carrot, sliced thinly

1. Combine water, sugar and vinegar in a small pot, bring to boil till sugar is dissolved.
2. Add shallots and chilli padi into the pickling liquid and let the liquid cool completely.
3. Add the sliced cucumber and carrot into the pickling liquid and store overnight in fridge.

Fish Sauce Dressing

• 5 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 lime
• 1/2pc chili padi, cut into tiny pieces
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced

1. Mix water, fish sauce and sugar, stir till sugar is dissolved.
2. Add lime juice, chili padi and garlic, mix well.

Assemble

• 200g rice noodle
• Honey pork
• Pickled cucumber, carrot and shallot
• Lettuce, basil, parsley, mint leaves, chili padi

1. Blanch rice noodle in boiling water for 30s. Drain thoroughly and arrange in serving bowl/plate.
2. Arrange pickles, lettuce, basil, parsley, mint leaves and chili padi in serving bowl/plate.
3. Add honey pork.
4. Drizzle with some fish sauce dressing before serving.

This is definitely my kind of salad! Totally appetising and aromatic as well!

By just looking at the photo, I'm already salivating over the pretty colours and presentation, not to mention the various tastes and textures that come together. The highlight of this dish is certainly the pork which is sweet and succulent and tasted great with a tinge of smoky flavour from the charred bits.

This dish is certainly a keeper for me :)

Stay tune as I present the last dish using cod fillet from Sasha's Fine Food.

Sasha's Fine Food is an online F&B company that sourced ethically produced goods with preference to free-range, organic and/or fair trade food and drinks, and at the same time avoiding foods with unacceptable or unhealthy addictive. There's a wide variety of produce available in the webstore, from meat and fish to dry goods and groceries, dairy to beverages.