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!)
Mel says
Delicious recipe! No modifications to ingredients needed when making this, which is such a rare find. Pairs well with sweet pickled carrot, cucumber & daikon over rice or as a banh mi. 10/10 recommend
Maureen says
After reading some of the comments here, I gave this a go and adjust to our tastes! Halved the sugar, used 1 tbs fish sauce and 1 tbs soy sauce instead of 2 tbs fish sauce (hubby not a fan of too much smelly ha!) and I think it’s perfect for us 🙂
Dani says
So easy and so much flavour! A big hit in my house. I also added avocado and lettuce.
Lexi says
We loved this for a quick and easy, no fuss dinner! A tasty way to dress up mince, next time I’ll spend an extra few minutes throwing some broccolini in with it! YUM.
Deedee Morris says
I finally made this after weeks of wanting to and it’s super yummy. I’m not a big fan of sweet & savory things together so it was too sweet for my personal taste, but I knew that was likely to be the case going into it. For my family who do like sweet & savory together, it fired on all cylinders. The one star taken off is because it took much longer than the recipe said it would to get the meat where it needed to be. I understand it seems to be the norm nowadays for every cook to say the recipes take only a fraction of the real time to finish but I wish that wasn’t the norm. Highly recommend this to anyone on the fence about making it.
Lucy says
It was good but too sweet for my taste, I even added twice the amount of pork , but was able to cut the sweetness by adding some rice wine vinegar. Also made finadene sauce spicy for the rice
explorefood715 says
I am going to give this recipe a five star, I made it today & oh boy it did not fail me. The taste is just as good as it looks. I followed your recipe except I reduced the amount of brown sugar. I used lean ground pork & works very well, I just added little more oil. Well done & thanks for the recipe.
Jessica says
This is a new family favorite! For four people I need to make two recipes. Instead of 2 tbsp of fish sauce I use 1 Tbsp fish sauce and 1 Tbsp of soy sauce per recipe.
Eileen says
Thank you Nagi, we LOVE this recipe. It has become a family favorite. So easy to build on and adapt to taste, or what you have on hand
Steph says
Served this deliciousness for 250 folks (using all of my math skills) for our turn to serve those in need of a meal. Many compliments! Thank you Nagi!
Buffy says
I’ve made this at least a dozen times. It is AMAZING. Inexpensive. Easy. Hardest part is chopping the 4 aromatics. I leave the seeds bc we love heat. I tried doubling the recipe but for some reason, it doesn’t turn out the same. So instead, I make 2 or 3 batches at a time. This is my son’s favorite dish and knows when I make it bc the house smells like fish sauce BUT it’s so worth it or cook outside if you can. The smell doesn’t linger but trust me, the taste makes the house smell so worth it. I literally just made it again. Another batch will be made in an hour so it’s fresh when my son gets home. Serve over rice with some green onions. Such an awesome recipe. Thank you!!!
Charley says
This is the best recipe ever!! I make it for my husband at least once a week! Its easy, quick and extremely tasty!
Candy says
This dish is absolutely delicious. My family loved it!
Cindy says
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.
Kirsty Andrews says
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! 😀
Jennifer Edwards says
Love this recipe! What do you think of using crumbled tofu in place of pork?
Laura says
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.
John S says
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.
Crystal says
THIS WAS AMAZING! I don’t like fish sauce but this was so so good. YOUVE DONE IT AGAIN
Crystal says
Also I added 1 teaspoon of lemon grass paste. It was so good.
Ellehcim says
I used lean pork mince and it was a little bit dry. Suggest to use fat-meat ratio around 40:60.
Michelle says
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 🐷
Erin says
I make this recipe once a week and we never get sick of it. Incredibly easy, quick, and delicious.