Vietnamese Pork Salad

I spent a summer in Laos and ate in the local market often.  This recipe sent me right back to that summer. The mint, fish sauce, cilantro and peanuts are a must.  Those distinct flavors really make a difference. Four stars instead of five because the ground pork seemed dry.  I will try it with pork tenderloin next time. I reduced the Sriracha to 1 tsp.  Next time I'll double the sauce as I ate almost half of it on one (large) serving!  I agree that this might not satisfy 4 people as written and it did take me longer than 23 minutes. Don't miss this recipe!  I'll be having it again soon.

I wanted to give this salad a try since it looked so good and was very unlike most dinners I make. It turned out to be great and my husband really liked it too. I didn't make any substitutions. Next time I will make sure to use really thin rice noodles since mine were rather thick and the 2 ounces didn't add up to much. I assembled most of it in advance so it was really quick to put together at dinnertime.

Easier than I thought it would be to put together.  The only substitutions I had to make was that I forgot to get peanuts so I used peanut butter powder in the dressing - yummy!  About 1.5 tablespoons - probably saved some fat and calories that way too.  Also used packaged shredded carrot as I had some on hand.  Will definitely make again.

This was a wonderful salad. Used pecan oil, didn't have peanut. All the textures were great together. Was surprised how much my husband liked it as he thinks of salads as strictly a side dish. Don't see how this could feed 4, maybe 3. I would double the dressing for 4 people and add a little more meat. 

Will try it with ground chicken next time. I am usually put off by a 15 ingredient list but loved this and will be making it again. Fish sauce is a must, it is the soy sauce of Vietnamese and Thai cooking in my opinion...

This salad is delicious, fresh, and complex.  It is hard to make Asian food taste authentic, but this recipe succeeds! 

This salad was outstanding.  The textures (crunchy veggies, soft noodles) and flavors all worked together so well.  And it is definitely a fast recipe for a weeknight!  I got the veggies &sauces prepared while waiting for the water to boil for the noodles, then started the pork when I added the noodles.  My only sub was sesame oil instead of peanut oil, and a little easy on the Sriracha.