If you witnessed my bratty behaviour this morning because some guy decided 6am was the perfect time to start practicing his whistling outside my window, you’d know I am high maintenance at times. (Now’s when the husband says “at times?” and I eye roll and ask him to put the washing on).
I feel OK about this though because the other day I met someone equally as (if not more) high maintenance that me. Here’s what she wanted: “Please make a recipes that’s under $10, takes 10 minutes, has less than 10 ingredients, can be gluten free, tastes really good but feels healthy”.
Lucky for her, you guys, my bank account and my ass, the answer is always Vietnamese.
Caramelised Vietnamese Pork Rice Bowls
Serves 2
Ingredients
1-2 cups of rice
3 shallots, diced
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
3 spring onions, chopped
500g pork mince
5tbs fish sauce
2tbs kecap manis – sweet soy
1tbs brown sugar
Large handful of fresh coriander & mint
Ideas for serving:
Sliced carrots, bean sprouts, chilli, lettuce
Method
Start by cooking your rice however way you do it then once that’s on…
Heat a little oil in a wok or large non stick pan and over a high heat add the shallots, garlic and spring onions. Once charred and soft, add your pork mince, breaking it up as you go until it’s full brown. Pour in the fish sauce, kecap manis and brown sugar. Make sure the heat is still super high as you want to fry off all the flavour quickly and reduce the added liquid.
Have a taste now. As some brands of fish sauce and kecap will differ in sourness & sweetness, you may want to add a little more sour/salt flavour using the fish sauce or caramel depth using the kecap. Just go little by little until you’re happy rather than overdoing it and being screwed!
Once your rice is cooked, get all your veg and herbs ready then tuck in.
Kitchen notes...
If you’re not into rice, these can be eaten with vermicelli noodles or in lettuce cups. Same goes for pork, chicken or beef can easily be substituted.