Vietnamese Inspired Caramelized Pork Bowls with Lentils

Vietnamese-inspired Caramelized Pork Bowls are my vegan take on Caramelized ground Pork using lentils instead of meat substitutes. The dish comes together so quickly and is packed with flavor. My new favorite way of serving lentils! Nutfree vegan recipe. Gluten-free option.

Get ready for some sticky spicy goodness. These Vietnamese-inspired lentil pork bowls are a vegan version of Vietnamese-style caramelized ground pork, a popular take-out dish.

There are variations in the dish depending on the restaurant. You can use pork or chicken subs here but we skip the meat substitutes and use lentils instead. Budget-friendly and whole food!

The pork versions usually use fish sauce. Since vegan fish sauce isn’t available as easily, I make my own fish sauce dressing with the ingredients listed adapted from this.

For this recipe, we sautee the lentils with chili, garlic and ginger for that flavor and caramelize them using some coconut sugar or brown sugar.

But the deliciousness only starts here. Now we toss the lentils with a sweet and spicy dressing. This step turns them into something utterly addictive.

We save the rest of the dressing for tossing any veggies we want to add to the bowls. DIVINE! It’s zesty and spicy and great over cucumber and radish and saves time if you don’t have pickled veggies to serve with the bowl. I served my lentils over rice along with some refreshing cucumber slices and green onions but you can get creative here. Use noodles or lettuce, Some pickled radishes and carrots go wonderfully.

More vegan lentil recipe:

• Lentil Orzo Salad
• Vegan Lentil Sambusa Pie
• Vegan Handi Lentils (Creamy Indian Dal)
• Vegan Lentil Sausage Rolls

More Asian meals

• Vietnamese Curried Tofu Noodle Bowl Recipe
• Curried Tofu Banh Mi Vegan Recipe
• Baked Vietnamese fries
• Miso Chili Garlic Tofu Sandwich

INGREDIENTS:

• lentils: canned or cooked . I used brown lentils here. I would not recommend red lentils as they are too soft.
• the lentils are fried with onion, ginger, garlic and green chili
• we caramelize the mix with brown sugar or coconut sugar
• soy sauce adds the saltiness to counterbalance the sweetness
• For the sweet & spicy dressing we mix miso with soy sauce, lime juice, rice vinegar, pepper flakes, coconut sugar
  and garlic . Some of these make up a dish sauce substitute flavor
• For the bowl, I add cooked rice, cucumber and green onions

TIPS:

• instead of white rice, you can use quinoa or rice noodles
• dont want to use lentils? Use soycurls or chickpeas! Rehydrate soycurls then chop into a mince and use
• To make this recipe gluten free, use tamari instead of soy sauce.

How to make Vegan Vietnamese Caramelized Pork Bowls with lentils

Make the dressing; Add all of the ingredients to a bowl and mix really well.

Press the miso to the side of the bowl until completely mixed in. Set it aside.

Make lentil pork ; Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add the oil. Once the oil is hot add in the onion and a good pinch of salt and a good pinch of sugar.

Mix and cook until the onions start to turn golden on some edges, then add the ginger, garlic, and green chili and continue to cook.

Deglaze the pan as needed with a few teaspoons of water if the mixture is drying out too much. Continue to cook until the onion is golden and starting to turn brown on some edges, 7 to 10 minutes.

Then add the lentils, brown sugar, soy sauce and mix in. Add in the 3-4 tablespoons of the mixed dressing and mix in.

Cook until the sauce comes to a boil and starts to thicken. Taste and adjust the flavor by adding salt if you need or add another 1-2 tablespoon of the prepared dressing and mix in.

You can also add in the zest of half a lime here for additional tang. Take off the heat and serve.

WAYS TO SERVE These Delicious Caramelized Pork lentils

You can serve the lentils in a bowl or you can make lettuce wraps.

If you want to serve this in a bowl, add some rice or cooked noodles, a good helping of the caramelized lentils then sliced cucumber or other sliced fresh veggies.

Add pickled radishes or carrots as well then dress the rice or noodles, the lentils and the cucumber generously with dressing and serve.