Bún chả (Vietnamese pork patties with rice noodles)

Ingredients

• 24.7 oz ground pork
• 14 oz vermicelli
• 8.8 oz salad
• 3 sprigs cilantro
• 3 sprigs mint
• 1 shallot
• 5 cloves garlic
• 2 scallions
• 4.4 oz fish sauce
• 2 tsp chicken stock powder
• 2 tsp oil
• 1 lime
• 6 tsp sugar
• 4.2 oz water (warm)
• 1 Thai chili
• 0.5 carrot
• 0.5 kohlrabi
• 2 tsp vinegar
• salt
• pepper

Instructions

1. 1

   Peel and finely chop garlic and shallot. Slice spring onion and Thai chili into fine rings. Thoroughly mix ground meat with a large portion of garlic, shallot, spring onions, fish sauce, sugar, chicken bouillon, and oil. Set mixture aside in a bowl and let it marinate for approx. 30 min.—for a more intense flavor, the longer, the better.

2. 2

   Chop carrot and kohlrabi into fine, small slices and add them to a bowl with vinegar and sugar for marinating for approx. 10 min. Tear lettuce into bite-sized pieces. Pluck cilantro and mint from stems.

3. 3

   Form marinated ground meat mixture into bite-sized patties and bake them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper in preheated oven at 200°C/392°F top/bottom heat for approx. 15–20 min. until golden brown. Meanwhile, cook vermicelli noodles according to package instructions, drain, and set aside.

4. 4

   For Dressing, stir fish sauce, water, sugar, lime juice, Thai chili, and remaining garlic in a bowl until sugar is completely dissolved. Finally, arrange all components together and serve.