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 was SOOOOO GOOD. Def one of my top ten dishes to make at home. <3
This has become one of my favourite and easy goto recipes and is the reason I now buy Costco sized ground pork. This time, I had no green onions or spicy peppers so I added a long yellow pepper and 1 tbsp of Sambek Olek chili sauce. Ginger garlic paste was also substituted. I also added about half as much extra-firm tofu as pork as I had it sitting around. I topped it with shredded lettuce and bean sprouts after putting it on a serving of rice. It was so, so, good.
I actually cooked 3 times as much as called for as I wanted to freeze it and send some over for my 90 year old mother. She was an amazing cook but is almost blind now and it is making it hard for her to do anything but the basics.
This is a winner recipe. I made this today and the whole family enjoyed. The colour was a little lighter than the picture to start but nothing a little plum and soy sauce couldn’t fix.
I plan to make this in the upcoming week or so. When I cook ground pork it gets greasy (can’t find a leaner ground pork) — can I drain before adding sauce ingredients?
Hi Kathy, if you find the mince too fatty, yes I would drain before adding the sauce in – it will just take away any excess grease. N x
I drained my minced pork, as per Nagi’s directions, and made the recipe otherwise as directed. Delicious! I served with basmati rice, but there’s not much sauce/juice so I didn’t really need it. Thank you Nagi!
another great recipe! Thanks Nagi.. feel so sorry for you having to respond to people who fail to read the recipe properly or complain when they change the recipe!!! You must have the patience of a saint!!
used beyond burger mince to make this and it tasted delicious! served with raw carrot, tomato, cucumber and a little chili oil.
Made this tonight and it was so easy and delicious!! Will definitely make it again.
So yummy! I used Coconut Sugar for caramelization!
Perfect Mimi! N x
I added a 3 x sliced button mushrooms and a cup of beansprouts 30 secs before end of cooking…… worked for me….
this looks good
I absolutely love this and so does my family. We have it at least once a week. I like it with the tomato and cucumber for added crunch and squeeze lime over. Yum 😋
This was excellent!
Vietnamese caramelised MINCED pork! Shows lovely picture of ingredients, but no mention of how much of each ingredient is needed, or how many servings that would be for??
It says servings 4
It says serves 4 and the measurements are all there. I’ve copied and pasted below:
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
This recipe hits the spot! SO EASY and a total crowd pleaser. My family was floored that I could make this at home and now ask for it every week! I’ve tried several of your recipes and they’re all super flavorful. ROCK ON, NAGI!
this is now on regular rotation in our house, so easy, so light, so delicious!! thanks nagi!
I don’t have brown sugar! Would caster do the job?
Hi Zoe, try caster sugar with a teaspoon of molasses in its place 🙂 N x
Incredibly easy and tastes great! Satisfies the Vietnamese food craving for sure. Used 1/4 tsp of cayenne instead of thai chilis and it wasn’t too spicy for my partner who does not like spice. Definitely will add it to the meal rotation.
Amazing!!! Didn’t have fish sauce so subbed with equal parts tamari and rice vinegar. Worked great!! Served with rice and cucumbers tossed in rice vinegar, chili oil, and olive oil. Such a great meal!
Making tonight…FYI lemongrass is missing from the ingredient list.
Hi Mary, it’s not missing, it’s just an optional extra as noted in the post 🙂 N x
Hi there – it doesn’t state how much lemongrass tho, unless I’m blind. Which I am, I wear glasses. I used paste and guessed!
I was worried about 5 Tbls of sugar and did find it very, very sweet even after adding extra fish sauce. I will try again with half the sugar.
I was too so I did equal parts fish sauce and sugar. Really delicious!
Hi Hannah, that’s because it is Vietnamese Caramelised pork – you can’t get the caramel without the sugar 🙂 N x
Dear Nagi, my pork did not caramelise, although I fried it for a long time, I just ended up with very sweet pork. Where did I go wrong?