Here’s a super fast pork stir fry made with pork mince (ground pork) infused with flavours from the streets of Vietnam. With just a handful of ingredients you probably already have, it’s sweet, salty, beautifully caramelised and absolutely irresistible. It’s the quick and easy version of Vietnamese Caramel Pork, a famous Vietnamese food speciality!
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
Vietnamese stir fry – Pork Mince recipe
Ground pork – which we call “mince” here in Australia – is extremely good value.
It’s also just about the least sexy protein I know. Don’t you think? A dry aged piece of New York strip is sexy. Quail is gourmet. Oysters are….well, we’ve all heard that oysters are an aphrodisiac, right? 😉
Mince is…well, it just isn’t fancy. And yet, it makes it into my shopping trolley every single week because it’s such good value and so versatile. Sure, there are the usual suspects you can make with mince. Bolognese, meatballs, burgers, Meatloaf, Shepherds Pie – to name a few of the more common ones.
But sometimes, it’s nice to do something a little different. Like this Vietnamese pork stir fry.
The crazy thing about this pork mince recipe is that the ingredients list is so short. Chili, garlic, ginger, sugar and fish sauce. That’s it. Seriously!
Can I make this pork stir fry with chicken or beef mince?
Yes! This is fabulous made with chicken, beef and turkey!
“This is a terrific ground pork recipe that tastes and sounds so exotic…. yet it’s so easy!”
The secret to this ground pork is the caramelisation. It is rare to see recipes made with ground meat that are cooked this way so the meat is caramelised.
But those golden brown bits you see – they are the crowning glory in this recipe that takes it from a rather unappetising pale brown-grey colour to a golden brown pile of deliciousness that you will want to eat with a spoon straight out of the skillet. (Go on – you deserve it – cook’s privileges!)
What you need
Short list – see? I didn’t exaggerate!!
Lemongrass is optional – it’s not a pantry staple and also it’s not an ingredient in traditional Vietnamese Caramel Pork. But lemongrass flavour is certainly at home in this dish!
How to make this Vietnamese pork mince stir fry
This pork mince stir fry comes together as quickly as any stir fry. Once you start cooking, you’ll be done in 6 minutes flat.
Authentic Vietnamese roots
I am not 1000% sure that this is strictly authentic Vietnamese but the combination of ingredients I use most certainly are and it is my replica of dishes I have tried at Vietnamese restaurants here in Australia. It is an adaptation of the marinade I use in my Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Bowl and essentially the quick version of Vietnamese Caramel Pork, a famous Vietnamese food speciality.
How to serve it
Serve this pork stir fry over rice and eat it with a spoon! This pork mince recipe doesn’t have a sauce, but you don’t need it because the flavour is intensified and the pork mince mixes all through the rice which flavour it.
To complete your meal, try these:
A fresh side salad like this Asian Slaw;
Add a side of cucumber and tomato wedges, pictured (very classic South East Asian way to add vegetables to a meal); or
Shredded lettuce, cucumber and carrots which makes it more like the classic Vietnamese Noodle Bowls.
Make my Vietnamese Chicken Salad but without the chicken for a fresh, slaw-like salad side.
Hope you enjoy! – Nagi x
PS For a healthy low carb option try Cauliflower Rice – 77% fewer calories and 87% less carbs than rice.
Watch how to make it
This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!
Get your Vietnamese fix!
Vietnamese Caramel Pork – and the Chicken version!
Lemongrass Chicken – one of my favourite things to grill!
Browse all Vietnamese recipes
More quick pork mince recipes
San Choy Bow (Chinese Lettuce Cups)
Egg Foo Young (Chinese Omelette with Pork)
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Vietnamese Caramelised Pork Bowls
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tbsp cooking oil (I use peanut oil)
- 1/2 onion , finely diced (brown, white or yellow) (~1/2 cup)
- 2 tsp ginger , grated or minced
- 2 garlic cloves , minced (2 tsp paste)
- 1 birds eye or Thai chili , deseeded and finely chopped (can omit, Note 1)
- 500g / 1 lb pork mince (ground pork) (Note 2)
- 5 tbsp (tightly packed brown sugar (don't skimp, else won't caramelise)
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
Serving:
- 1 green onion stem , finely sliced
- Jasmine rice or other rice for serving
- Sliced red chilli, tomato, cucumber (optional)
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat.
- Sauté – Add the onion, ginger, garlic and chili and cook for 2 minutes.
- Cook pork – Add the pork mince and cook for 2 minutes or so until white all over, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon.
- Add sauce & caramelise – Add the sugar and fish sauce. Stir, then leave it to cook without touching until all the juices cook out and the pork starts caramelised – about 2 minutes. Then stir it and leave it again, without stirring, for around 30 seconds to get more caramelisation. Repeat twice more until caramelised to your taste.
- Serve over jasmine or other rice, or vermicelli noodles, garnished with sliced green onion. For a low carb, low cal option, try Cauliflower Rice! I like to have chunks of plain cucumber and carrots on the side which is a classic way of making Vietnamese bowls.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published November 2015. Updated September 2019 with new writing, some new photos, brand new video and most importantly, new Life of Dozer section added!
Life of Dozer
Dozer on the wrong side of the counter at the pet shop!!!
(PS yes you spy cat treats, buying a present for a friend!)
This dish is absolutely delicious. My family loved it!
Made this for my 90 YO Mother and 85 YO aunt last spring and now they ask me to make it when they come over for dinner, it is also one of my husband’s favorites.
Thanks Nagi. This was super quick and delicious. Doubled it so it took a wee bit longer to caramelise but it was gloriously golden and sticky…yum! Had it with vermicelli noodles, finely sliced cabbage and carrot, coriander, chopped nuts and fried shallots topped with nuoc cham (from your lemongrass chicken recipe). I will definitely be making this again and again…and again! THANK YOU!!!
If I want to use lemongrass paste next time how much would you recommend? Cheers! 😀
Love this recipe! What do you think of using crumbled tofu in place of pork?
Yum! I am averse to fish sauce but when cooked and caramelised, this is absolutely divine! We put in 1tsp of lemongrass and it was great! Thanks Nagi.
I cook a lot of Asian dishes and really love this one. A great way to use ground pork as I usually like larb but don’t always have all the ingredients. This is so much quicker and comes together in no time! Delicious.
THIS WAS AMAZING! I don’t like fish sauce but this was so so good. YOUVE DONE IT AGAIN
Also I added 1 teaspoon of lemon grass paste. It was so good.
I used lean pork mince and it was a little bit dry. Suggest to use fat-meat ratio around 40:60.
I’ve made SOOO many of Nagi’s recipes and this is the first one that I felt didn’t work out for me. Also felt it was a bit ‘dry’…like you, I also used lean pork mince. Maybe full fat next time 🐷
I make this recipe once a week and we never get sick of it. Incredibly easy, quick, and delicious.
I love this dish, Make it all the time, but I was wondering about the lemongrass note at the bottom. There’s no lemongrass listed in the ingredients.
Hi Nagi, How much lemongrass paste would you recommend if using? Thanks!😊
I used 1 teaspoon in a 500g mince it was so good.
Thanks Crystal! I just saw this now 😀
Awesome! Thanks Crystal…just seen this now👍
Delicious in every way.
This recipe is another hit! Thank you for posting, will definitely be in my rotation.
Was really yummy, but found it a tad rich
Made this last night out of the 4 of us 2 really liked it and 2 said a bit sweet . I personally found it too sweet . Next time I do I may reduce the sugar a bit and just try caramelise it a bit more . Still a nice tasty easy meal . Did with steamed rice , course grated carrot, tomato and cucumber.
Fabulous… nearly didn’t make the bowls with all my picking!
I did add a couple of splashes of dark soy sauce as I’ve got a salty palette…
This recipe is absolutely amazing! I tasted the cooked pork mixture before it browned and thought it was too sweet and didn’t really have an amazing flavour. Once caremlised, it took on a new life!!
Served with cucumber and tomato as suggested – which was just perfect with some rice.
Yum yum yum. Absolutely delicious.
Any advice on whether this can be frozen? I’m hoping to make it for a friend with a newborn on the way!
This is such a great recipe! We add a lot of extra chilli because we love some spice!
Mmmmmmmmm. (I used coconut aminos instead of fish sauce). . This is delicious and easy! Thank you!