Here’s a super fast pork stir fry made with 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 (Note 1)
- 1 lb / 500g ground pork (mince) (Note 2)
- 5 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
Serving:
- 1 green onion stem , finely sliced
- Rice
- Sliced red chilli, tomato, cucumber (optional)
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat.
- Add the onion, ginger, garlic and chili and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the pork mince and cook for 2 minutes or so until white all over, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon.
- 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 rice or vermicelli noodles, garnished with sliced scallions/shallots. 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!)
In less time than it took to cook the rice! Added green beans and served over rice with tomato and cucumber
Easy & delicious recipe. My husband loves it, too.
Have made the vietnamese pork bowls tonight used turkey mince and cauliflower rice, absolutely delicious, our doggie friends enjoyed it also. Thanks Nagi.
Beautiful recipe, I actually served with Hoisin sauce on a wrap because I didn’t want to go to the effort of rice, we loved it
Bloody great. This will become a regular in our house of 5. I served with a lot of salad, green beans, Broccoli, rice and wraps
My partner vowed that he would not like this dish as he isn’t the biggest fan of pork mince but now he’s asked we make this every week! Thank you for such a simple but absolutely delicious recipe!
Making this for the third time hahah. Nagi your recipes are made for endless cooking!!! I don’t have time to cook, but I always seem to have time for your recipes, because it’s a given that it’s a show stopper.
Thanks a million for your perfect recipes, so much hard work and time can be tasted and appreciated in every recipe. You’re amazing!
Making this for the third time hahah. Nagi your recipes are made for endless cooking!!! I don’t have time to cook, but I always seem to have time for your recipes, because it’s a given that it’s a show stopper.
Thanks a million for your perfect recipes, so much hard work and time can be tasted and appreciated in every recipe. You’re amazing!
This was so delicious, my family absolutely loved this dish. The caramelization was perfect. I thought the fish sauce would be way overpowering because of how it smelled when cooking, but it was perfect! We used a serrano pepper but would love to try with a Thai chili pepper. A definite make again.
Absolutely delicious!! Added lemongrass to the recipe and it totally worked! family loved it. Will definitely make again.
This was really delicious! It was sweet but i didn’t think it was too sweet. I also used the brown sugar that is common in China. It’s a very dark brown and i don’t think it is as sweet as the brown sugar i used to buy in the states?
Anyway i am saving this recipe and will definitely be making it again!
Family favorite, even with 3 kids who are picky eaters!
I add some diced carrot just to get some veggies into them.
Thank you Nagi you’re awesome!
This meal was soooooo delicious! Really easy, instructions were spot-on and I happened to have all ingredients on hand (and in the veggie garden).
Thank you Nagi, for your inspiration and your exceptional expertise in flavour combinations.
It was so tasty!!! 😭 tears of joy. Totally craveable.
Would this work ok with monkfruit sugar (ラカント) or is straight up sugar best?
Delicious, served with quick pickles from another of your spicy korean pork recipe, another winner from Nagi.
This was so sublime and loved by us all however I did make a few tweaks. I julienned the ginger, doubled the pork, kept the same amount of fish sauce, added only 2 teaspoons of brown sugar which resulted in the perfect sweetness. The caramelisation takes a lot longer than stated in the recipe. Sploshed some water in at the end to loosen it all up and add some moisture. Garnished with coriander, chilli and a squeeze of fresh lime and served over whole grain rice. Delish! 😉
Delicious and easy, I went a little easy on the sugar as I only had caster, so the caramelisation took a bit longer. I also squeezed a bit of lime juice on the mince at the end… this one will become a family favourite for sure.
What can I say but Delicious thank you. I used 15ml tablespoons for sugar perfect
YUM!!! i served with thin noodles and stirfry veges and left the chilli out as i have lil kids! so tasty !