Bun Cha: Vietnamese Pork Meatballs Recipe
Bun cha is a traditional Vietnamese dish of grilled pork meatballs served with a delicious golden broth, a variety of fresh herbs, greens, and rice noodles.
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Servings: 4
Calories: 528kcal
Ingredients
- ½ lb rice noodles Prepare according to package instructions, drain and allow to cool.
Pork Meatballs
- 1 lb pork ground
- ¼ tsp five spice powder
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 2 tsp fish sauce
- 2 shallots minced
- 1 garlic clove minced minced
- ¼ tsp pepper
Accompaniments - greens served on the side:
- 1 cilantro
- 1 mint
- 1 red leaf lettuce
- 1 Thai basil
Broth
- 2 Tbsp fish sauce
- 1 ¼ cup water
- 2 tsp lime juice, fresh sqeezed
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
- ¼ cup kohlrabi sliced
Instructions
- Arrange all the greens on a tray.
- In a bowl place ground pork, five spice powder, salt, fish sauce, shallots, garlic, and pepper. Marinate for about one hour, and then form small, 1" meatballs. Flatten them out to form a patty.
- While the pork is marinating, slice the kohlrabi thinly, and place in a shallow glass dish. Each slice of kohlrabi should be cut into 3 wedge shaped pieces. Sprinkle with kosher salt and vinegar, and allow it to sit for about 1 hour.
- Cook meatballs/patties in a skillet, on both sides. When finished, transfer them to a baking tray and place them in the oven on broil for about two minutes on each side. (If you want to grill outdoors: Grill them from about 3 minutes per side until they run clear and hit an internal temp 145° F.)
- Prepare the broth by placing fish sauce, water, lime juice, brown sugar and rice vinegar in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil, and remove from heat.
- Divide the broth evenly into 4 separate bowls.
- Place the sliced kohlrabi in the broth. You typically eat them by alternating dipping the meatballs, greens and noodles into the broth. It is very refreshing!
Nutrition
Calories: 528kcal | Carbohydrates: 51g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 81mg | Sodium: 1698mg | Potassium: 439mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 330IU | Vitamin C: 8.2mg | Calcium: 35mg | Iron: 1.7mg