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!)
Stunning!! Making for the second time tonight ❤
Hi Nagi,
I’d like to add broccoli to the recipe. At which point should I add it?
Thanks!
Really good! And kinda foolproof! Thanks!@
Hello, is it soft light brown sugar that you use in the recipe?
Regards,
Hermy.
Hi Hermy, yes light brown sugar here N x
Do you add the sugar and fish sauce each time you repeat the carmelization step? Or is that only once and the additional steps are just stirring up the pork?
Hi Mark, you’re adding all the fish sauce and sugar in step 4, stirring and then leaving it to caramelise. N x
I used Gr Turkey for this. Sprinkled with chopped cilantro, and had pickled carrots and cucumber chunks on the side. Delish!
Sounds perfect Sara!! N x
Tastes beautiful! Wasn’t until I was ready to add the sugar that I realised I’d run out of both types of brown sugar, so used raw instead and was still delicious.
Great easy to cook recipe. Added fresh mint from the yard (picked by my budding chef 8 year old son). Great addition!!
Hi Nagi, instead of bbq char siu pork, do you think I can use this as the filling for my bao buns?
Hi there, I don’t have brown sugar…, can I use white sugar instead?
I’ve made this twice and it’s absolutely delicious. It is such a quick and easy dish to make, it almost shouldn’t taste so good! But it does, it’s magic 😉
Substitute fish sauce with Worcestershire, soy or oyster sauce. Latter being seafood you may not want.
Hi Nagi
I love vietnamese flavours except I can’t eat fish (fish sauce), any suggestions for fish sauce alternative in this recipe? Thx
We add carrots to veggie it up and make it a one pot meal. We wrap in seaweed with white rice and call it “tacos”. The kids eat it up… adults add sriracha and love it too! Tastes like a fancy masubi! Thanks!
My first time to cook this for dinner and its good
Amazing flavour. I subbed golden Stevia for brown sugar, and it was still delicious. Possibly not as caramel as the original, but wonderful nonetheless.
I wasn’t sure how much lemongrass paste to add, so just used a tablespoon.
Served over rice, with tomatoes. Possibly because we were hungry and this was really delicious, we only got 2 servings out of it.
My only regret is that there are no leftovers for tomorrow ☹️
I want to try it with chicken breast mince next.
i try this recipe and i love it. My husband says it taste better than take out. will definitely make this again. Thank you for this and many other recipes.
Substituted soy sauce for fish sauce and reduced brown sugar to 3tbsp. Still worked out delicious! Will add this one to the quick and simple weeknight dinner schedule!
Delicious! That you for sharing!
Hi Nagi
I made the Vietnamese Caramelised Porkand live it! It is now a firm favourite with my family. I recently made it again and had quite a lot left over so I froze it . What is the best way to reheat it once defrosted ? Thanks x
Hi Howard, I’m so glad you loved it!! It’s perfect reheated in the microwave too 🙂 N x
Brilliant
Added pine nuts, carrots and mushroom.
Note to self don’t cook in non stick pan, better off in wok or cast iron.