Vietnamese Pork in Tomato Sauce with Nuoc Cham sauce is a refreshing main course dinner that seems spring-like to me. It starts with a bed of lettuce with fresh herbs, cilantro and mint, so as soon as I see mint growing in my garden I think of making this dish. The base layer is topped with warm rice and then the tomato based meat sauce. The classic sauce called nuoc cham, is sprinkled on at the table and the fresh flavours of Vietnamese cuisine are in every bite. Don’t forget the fresh cracked pepper!

The Asian Pantry – Vietnamese Cuisine

Fresh herbs and fish sauce are essential for Vietnamese and Thai cuisines. Fish sauce is the secret ingredient since it seems to be used in every dish yet the final taste can be completely different from one dish to the next.

Nuoc cham is the dipping sauce you may recognize by taste. It’s commonly served with salad rolls and contains fish sauce, rice vinegar and lime juice. It takes only five minutes to make and will keep in your fridge for weeks or even months. In this dish the nuoc cham is sprinkled on at the table.

This post contains affiliate links. When you purchase using these links your cost is the same, but I receive a few cents for every dollar spent. I appreciate your support for this website.

If you’re new to cooking Vietnamese or Thai foods, or need a vegan option, check out these posts:

• The Gluten Free Asian Pantry
• Fish sauce
• Vegan fish sauce substitute, perfect for anyone with a fish allergy or on a vegan diet.

Cook Once, Eat Twice

Do you like the idea of only cooking once, but getting to eat twice? This recipe already makes two meals for two people but sometimes I make a double recipe of the meat sauce and freeze half of it. If I have a jar of nuoc cham in the fridge then this is a quick and easy dinner. If you need a reminder to use up all those jars in your fridge just add a label to the sauce that reads “for Viet Pork & Tom Sauce”. You can also use the sauce for these two recipes.

Get The Tools – Wok Cooking

I can’t say enough about the benefits of wok cooking, you really should own one. A standard flat bottom wok isn’t expensive, will last for years and is ideal for more than Asian dishes. You can cook this sauce in any frying pan or Dutch oven, but the wok is perfect. The large surface area of a wok is the key to stir-frying and it’s shape, a small base with a large top, makes it perfect for deep-frying. Once you have a wok you’ll find all sorts of ways to use it.

Let me know in the comments below if you tried this dish and what you thought.

This recipe is adapted from a beautiful coffee table cookbook, The Foods of Vietnam by Nicole Routhier. She describes this dish as the Vietnamese interpretation of spaghetti and meat sauce.

More Recipe with Nuoc Cham

The actual recipe in each of these is slightly different but you can mix and match when you have some leftover in your fridge.

• Cabbage Chicken Salad
• Vietnamese Salad Rolls
• Rice Noodle Bowl