Freddie’s pork bun cha with mango salad and vermicelli

This is a fantastic recipe, suitable 365 days every year! The original to her credit is from Nadia Lim. Freddie and I have adapted, tweaked it a bit. The mango and raw bok choy salad is fresh, light, crunchy and zesty with a sweet, sour and salty nuoc cham dressing. Oh, and by the way, Freddie (Eliza) is a “she” who is actually engaged to our son, Macca!

Fresh is exactly the correct adjective to describe this dish. Yes, lots of ingredients that combine to create this wonderful flavour, but it’s actually easy to make and well worth the effort

Couple of bits of advice:

·       Use lean pork mince

·       Don’t be tempted to over season when you first make the dish – it’s always easy to add flavour but not so easy to “subtract”!

·       Freddie and I always test cook a small meatball when the mixture is made up and then….adjust the seasoning. We like it slightly tangy, so quite often add some more lemon grass and a squeeze or two of lime juice

Ingredients

Pork bun cha

800 gms pork mince (make it up to a kilo if you want)

2 tsps salt

2 tsps soft brown sugar

4 shallots, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, finely diced

1tbs ginger (paste or finally grated)

½ cup chopped fresh mint

2tbs fish sauce

3 tbs lemongrass paste (or fresh lemongrass)

3 bunches of fresh coriander roots – you will need 2-3 bunches of coriander so keep the roots, cut off the end bits and finely chop. Adds wonderful flavour

1 bunch coriander leaves, roughly chopped

1 tsp chilli paste/ chopped chilli

1 fresh lime – squeeze the juice

Vermicelli

200 gms vermicelli noodles

Nuoc Cham dressing

1/3 cup of lime juice – try to use fresh if not too pricey

1/4 cup of fish sauce

1 red chilli (optional) – remove seeds and thinly slice

2 tbs soft brown sugar

1/4 cup of water

Combine the ingredients, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Taste and adjust flavours as you like

Mango and bok choy salad

2 mangoes, firm, ripe peeled and diced 1cm

6 baby bok choy, finely sliced (discard bottom 1cm of the stem)

2-3 carrots, peeled and made into matchsticks

2 bunches coriander, roughly chopped

1-2 long King Sweetie capsicum – sliced into rounds

1 packet bean sprouts

2 tbs sesame seeds, gently toasted

1tbs fish sauce

2 lemons (juice of)

Cooking instructions

1.      In a medium bowl, mix all pork bun cha ingredients together using clean hands and season with freshly ground black pepper. Use a tablespoon measure to roll into small balls then flatten slightly. Now’s the time to cook and taste one meatball. Heat a drizzle of oil in a large fry-pan on medium heat (or on the BBQ hotplate) and cook patties for 3–4 minutes each side, until browned all over and just cooked through. You can shape into meatballs or patties (don’t make the patties too thick or they might burn when being cooked)

2.      Place vermicelli noodles in a medium, heat-proof, bowl (or a pot) and pour over boiling water to cover. Stir and leave to soak for about 5 minutes until soft and tender, then drain and rinse under cold water to prevent them sticking together. Snip in a few places with kitchen scissors to make them easier to eat and toss with a little drizzle of sesame oil.

3.      In a small bowl, mix all nuoc cham dressing ingredients together.

4.      To make the salad, combine mango, bok choy and other salad ingredients in a large salad bowl. Just before serving add fish sauce and lemon juice and toss to combine and top with the toasted sesame seeds

5.      To serve, divide noodles, pork bun cha and mango salad between plates. Garnish with fresh herbs and drizzle over nuoc cham dressing.