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!)
Yummy. Went well with rice and pickled cabbage.
So yummy! Full of flavor and yet so simple. I did 1pound of beef and pork. Thank you so much for your recipes.
This hit the spot as a quick easy dinner.. served up with rice (don’t forget to wash your rice peeps – Haiyaa!!) and Vietnamese Chicken Salad sans chicken. I would for my own taste cut the brown sugar down and have a bit more chilli – this girl likes it a little spicy. Nagi and Dozer Doggy, this will be on rotation especially in summer. *insert chef’s kiss*
PS Nagi when will you do a collab with Uncle Roger? You guys would rock it
I didn’t have any lemongrass handy so I sprinkled sumac over the mixture right before I served it. And I had a cabbage head that I’d been neglecting and was about to rot, so I added about 1/3 head. Turned out Excellent! Thanks Nagi!
I just made this for dinner for me and my teenagers. It was a fridge clean out the night before shopping day so used what I had.
I added lemongrass paste and sriracha to the fish sauce then rinsed the bowl with some water and cooked it until the water was evaporated. There was some broccoli in the fridge so after I cooked the pork, I removed it from the wok and stir-fried the broccoli with some of your Charlie Stir-fry Sauce. Served with rice and spring onions. Delicious. Will be making this again!
I cannot use pork due to allergies. I made the recipe with a ground beef-venison mix. The flavor was excellent but very dry. How can I adjust the recipe … keep the caramelized meat but have som juice/gravy so it blends with the rice better?
Stupid question, Nagi, but where in this recipe is the lemongrass that is mentioned in the Notes?
Hey Lenette, I can’t see lemongrass in the ingredients list or methods either. I didn’t even know it had lemongrass till I saw your comment. I reread the notes and she says to add it in, with the garlic, so step 2 you add it I am guessing. I’m going to make this tonight!
This recipe was so easy and absolutely delicious!
Just made this tonight and it was a hit!! My 6 yr old loved it and he even had seconds.
Will definitely make this recipe again! So yummy
Does anyone know if you can add veggies ro this please? X
I don’t see why not. I’d stir-fry them after in the same pan. This will let the veggies pick up the leftover flavours and help clean the pan. 🙂
I’m thinking beans, snow peas and the like. I’d avoid sweet veggies as you already have brown sugar there so you might get too much sweetness.
I’ve made this many times. Only made one adjustments. I don’t enjoy sweet meats. I use one T of brown sugar. I used two T of brown sugar once it was not to my taste. I couldn’t imagine using five T of sugar.
So glad I saw your comment. I almost closed this recipe when I saw the amount of sugar as I’m not a sweet tooth and for me sweet savoury dishes are yuck
Thanks for this. I’ve noted with a few other recipes that things weighed in on the sweet side (I mostly don’t add sugar to anything) so thank you for sharing that info.
I sense Nagi may have a bit of a sweet tooth. 🙂
The whole family loved this! Thank you, Nagi, for another amazing recipe x
Could hug him to pieces!!
Delicious! And so simple. Another winner ❤️❤️
A regular in our house with our toddlers!
This is one of my son’s favorite dish. When he returns home from college, he always asked for this dish. I find that 5 tbs of brown sugar is way too sweet. And 2tbs fish sauce is too little .I use 3 tbs sugar and 3 tbs fish sauce. Maybe the fish sauce I use is t salty enough.
Delicious! Made as directed and will definitely make again.
I don’t see lemongrass listed as an ingredient. How much paste should I add?
I see where it says we can use lemongrass paste but not a measurement for it. Help?
I had to triple the recipe, family of 6 with two teenage boys, and it was amazing. I used a pound of ground pork and 2 pounds of very lean ground beef… there were NO leftovers! I have pork belly in the freezer and plan on trying the original caramalized pork recipe you have.
Hi Nagi, I made this recipe tonight with ground turkey and it was delicious! So quick and easy. It is a really unique way to use ground turkey from the usual recipes. Thanks so much!
Oh my goodness! This may be one of the best and easiest Asian inspired dishes I have ever made. I am floored by how simple, tasty and delicious your recipe is with such few ingredients. I will be trying this with minced chicken and ground beef to switch it up a bit since I plan to eat this every day 😉 I did not have a birds eye chili so I used 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes in it’s place and it was perfect. Thank you so much for posting!!
Yummo! 👏👏👏. A bit like our favourite broken rice dish at our local Viet restaurant.