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Healthy Vietnamese Pork Salad

I’ve been playing around with a variety of salads of late thanks to a long and hot summer. Light fresh and healthy have been key, and this Healthy Vietnamese Pork Salad has been a hit. Its easy to make, packed full of flavour and texture and ridiculously healthy to boot. I love it!

To be fair, it is missing some of the sweetness of traditional Vietnamese salads, but I was keen to cut down on the sugar in the dish. And I don’t think the flavour suffers that much! The maple syrup in the pork marinade gives enough sweetness to the meat. You could add a bit of maple to the dressing if you wanted, but personally I don’t think it needs it!

The salad is very versatile too. Quantity wise, it is simple to double or triple the recipe for a bigger group. You can also add some rice vermicelli noodles to the salad if you want to give it a bit more oomph. Or play around with the salad ingredients adding peanuts, using lettuce instead of cabbage and replacing the basil with Thai basil if you can find it. The pork can also be cooked on the bbq or in a pan which will caramelise the pork a bit more, adding to the sweetness of the dish.

However you recreate this healthy Vietnamese pork salad, I promise it won’t disappoint!

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40 minutes

Ingredients

300g lean pork fillet

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 T lemongrass, finely chopped

2 limes – juice only

2 T fish sauce

1-2 T soy sauce

2 t Maple syrup

Sesame oil – a few drops

2 t rice wine vinegar

Red chilli, thinly sliced (to taste)

1 medium carrot

1/2 medium cucumber

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

Bean sprouts – a handful

Shredded wombok cabbage, about 1 cup

Handful each of coriander, mint and basil leaves

Instructions

Combine 1 tablespoon of fish sauce and soy sauce in a bowl along with the maple syrup, sesame oil, half the garlic and the juice of 1 lime. Bash the lemon grass stalk to tenderise the finely chop and add to the bowl. Mix well to combine and pour over the pork to marinate. Set aside for at least 10 minutes and up to 1 hour.

Preheat your oven to 200. Place the pork on a preheated oven tray and roast for around 20-25 minutes (or until cooked to your liking). Remove from the oven and allow to rest while preparing the salad.

For the dressing – combine remaining lime juice, fish sauce, garlic, chilli, teaspoon of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and a tablespoon of water. Mix well.

For the salad, peel the carrot and make carrot ribbons using the peeler. Cut the cucumber in half lengthways, deseed then cut into thin slices. Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and toss together. Toss through half of the dressing just before serving.

To serve, divide the salad between two serving bowls. Thinly slice the pork and place on top of the two salads. Drizzle the remaining dressing over the pork and serve immediately.

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