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Home » Recipes

Vietnamese Lemongrass Grilled Pork (Thịt Nướng)

Published: Jun 15, 2021 by Suzanne Nuyen · This post may contain affiliate links · 9 Comments

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Thịt Nướng is among one of the most popular dishes at Vietnamese restaurants. Unlike phở or egg rolls, thịt nướng is relatively easy to make. The marinade uses ingredients you can find at most grocery stores and it's easy to make on the grill or in the oven. Additionally, you can serve it a number of ways.

Pin Vietnamese Lemongrass Grilled Pork (Thịt Nướng) To Try Later!

three skewers of grilled lemongrass pork, or Thịt Nướng on a wooden platter with a bowl of fish sauce.
I like to top my skewers with some scallion oil to keep them moist.

Restaurants will usually serve lemongrass grilled pork as bún thịt nướng, which is a vermicelli rice bowl. The combination of the sweet and spicy fish sauce dressing, herbs, noodles and hot pork is irresistible! Often, restaurants will serve the bowls as a combo, with added grilled shrimp or egg rolls. The pork also tastes delicious in a bánh mì, or sandwich, with mayo, pickled vegetables and cilantro. Lemongrass grilled chicken or beef is also often available, but pork is my favorite.

One grilled pork spring roll cut in half placed next to three whole grilled pork spring rolls.
I like to roll up the grilled pork in rice paper for a portable treat.

At home, thịt nướng is often served at barbeques and parties. It's easy to make in bulk and is versatile to serve. I personally like to make gỏi cuốn thịt nướng, or grilled lemongrass pork spring rolls. I take all the ingredients that would go into a noodle bowl and wrap it up in rice paper. It's easy to take to work or school and I love eating with my hands!

Jump to:
  • 🍖 Ingredients
  • 🔪 Instructions
  • 💭 Tips and substitutions
  • 🍚 Serving suggestions
  • 🥡 How to store or make in advance
  • 👪 Serving size
  • Vietnamese Lemongrass Grilled Pork (Thịt Nướng)

🍖 Ingredients

A white bowl with noodles, grilled pork, herbs, cucumbers and pickled vegetables.
The Thịt Nướng skewers taste great as a noodle salad bowl.

You will need:

For the pork

  • 1.5 to 2 lbs of a fatty cut of pork, like shoulder or belly. I like to use belly
  • 2 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
  • 3 tablespoon sugar or honey
  • 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1-2 shallots, minced
  • ½ cup minced lemongrass
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • bamboo or metal skewers (optional)

Suggested toppings/additions

  • fish sauce dipping sauce
  • scallion oil (sauté some chopped scallions in a neutral oil for a fragrant sauce)
  • crushed peanuts
  • pickled carrots and daikon
  • bean sprouts
  • mint
  • thai basil
  • cilantro
  • green/red leaf or romaine lettuce
  • cucumber
  • sliced thai chiles or jalapeños
  • rice vermicelli
  • rice paper
  • baguette

🔪 Instructions

a metal bowl of thinly sliced pork belly in marinade.
Marinate the pork for at least 30 minutes. It will taste better marinated overnight.

Trim any large chunks of fat or gristle off of the pork. If you're using skin-on pork belly like me, trim the skin off as well. Slice the pork into thin strips about ¼ of an inch thick and add the fish sauce, oyster sauce, sugar or honey, garlic, shallots, lemongrass and salt and pepper. Mix the meat thoroughly and let it marinate for at least 30 minutes but preferably overnight.

Raw marinated pork on wooden skewers.
Skewering the pork keeps the pieces nice and moist.

I like to skewer the pork for easy grilling, but you could also spread the pork onto a wire rack on top of a cookie sheet and broil it in the oven. To make skewers, poke one end of a pork strip through the skewer, fold the pork over, and poke it through the skewer again. Keep a few inches on either end of the skewer empty.

Cooked pork skewers on an indoor tabletop grill
Make sure to flip the skewers and allow them to caramelize on all sides.

You can grill these skewers over propane or charcoal. I used an indoor tabletop grill. You can also bake these at 375 degrees Fahreinheit, flipping every five minutes and broiling for a minute or two at the end for a nice char. They will take about 15-20 minutes to cook through. To grill them, simply flip them regularly to get an even char on all sides until cooked through.

💭 Tips and substitutions

three skewers of grilled lemongrass pork, or Thịt Nướng on a wooden platter with a bowl of fish sauce.
Serve Thịt Nướng with a sweet and sour fish sauce dipping sauce.

I recommend using pork belly or shoulder for thịt nướng. You can use chicken thigh and make gà nướng or beef for bò nướng. I wouldn't recommend using chicken breast as it tends to be dry. The marinade also tastes delicious on tofu.

🍚 Serving suggestions

To make bún thịt nướng

A white bowl with noodles, grilled pork, herbs, cucumbers and pickled vegetables.
These are the toppings I like on my Bún Thịt Nướng bowl. You can mix and match them.

Cook your rice vermicelli noodles according to the package instructions. Then, layer a bowl of noodles with the cooked pork, herbs, lettuce, bean sprouts, pickled daikon and carrot, cucumber, crushed peanuts and scallion oil. Pour a few spoonfuls of fish sauce dipping sauce (nước mắm pha) over the bowl, mix together and enjoy!

Get my recipe for fish sauce dipping sauce (nước mắm pha) here!

To make gỏi cuốn thịt nướng

A birds eye view of One grilled pork spring roll cut in half placed next to three whole grilled pork spring rolls.
You can wrap up any of the same ingredients that go into a Thịt Nướng noodle bowl into a spring roll.

Soak a piece of rice paper in lukewarm water and set it onto a plate. If you want the pork to show through the rice paper for a pretty look, add the pork first, then vermicelli, scallion oil, crushed peanuts, herbs and a thin cucumber spear. Otherwise, to make the roll easier to roll, add lettuce first. before adding the vermicelli, pork and other toppings. Roll the fillings into the rice paper once, then fold the two sides of of the paper towards the center before rolling the fillings all the way to the other end of the rice paper.

To make bánh mì thịt nướng

Toast a demi baguette or 6 inch piece of french bread and spread one side with mayonnaise and one side with pate (optional). Layer cooked pork, fresh cilantro, cucumber, pickled daikon and carrot and sliced chiles into the sandwich. You could also splash the sandwich with some Maggi seasoning or soy sauce to taste.

🥡 How to store or make in advance

You can let the meat marinate for up to 24 hours before cooking. Once cooked, the skewers can be frozen for up to six months and reheated in the oven at 250 degrees Fahrenheit until warmed through. Cooked skewers will last in the fridge for about a week.

👪 Serving size

Two pounds of pork made 18 skewers for me. I recommend 1-2 skewers per person.

three skewers of grilled lemongrass pork, or Thịt Nướng on a wooden platter with a bowl of fish sauce.
Print Pin
4.35 from 20 votes

Vietnamese Lemongrass Grilled Pork (Thịt Nướng)

These grilled pork skewers are a popular at Vietnamese restaurants. Lots of minced lemongrass makes them extra fragrant.
Course dinner, lunch, Main Course
Cuisine Asian, Vietnamese
Keyword BBQ, Grilling, Pork
Prep Time 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes minutes
marinating time 30 minutes minutes
Total Time 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes
Servings 9 people
Calories 436kcal

Equipment

  • Wooden or metal skewers (optional)

Ingredients

For The Pork

  • 1½ - 2 lbs pork belly or shoulder
  • 2 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
  • 3 tablespoon sugar or honey
  • 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1-2 shallots minced
  • ½ cup minced lemongrass
  • salt and pepper to taste

Suggested Toppings and Add-ons

  • fish sauce dipping sauce
  • scallion oil (sauté some chopped scallions in a neutral oil for a fragrant sauce)
  • crushed peanuts
  • pickled carrots and daikon
  • bean sprouts
  • mint
  • thai basil
  • cilantro
  • red/green leaf or romaine lettuce
  • cucumber
  • sliced thai chiles or jalapeños
  • rice vermicelli
  • baguette or french bread

Instructions

  • Trim any large chunks of fat or gristle off of the pork. If you're using skin-on pork belly like me, trim the skin off as well. Then, slice the pork into stripe about ¼ of an inch thick.
  • Add the meat to a bowl and add the fish sauce, oyster sauce, sugar or honey, garlic, shallots, lemongrass and salt and pepper. Mix the meat thoroughly and let it marinate for at least 30 minutes but preferably overnight.
  • Skewer the pork by poking one end of a pork strip through the skewer, folding the pork over, and poking it through the skewer again. Keep a few inches on either end of the skewer empty.
  • If you're not using skewers, you can layer the pork on a wire wrack and cook them in the oven at 375° for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through. Broil for 1-2 minutes as necessary to achieve a char on the meat.
  • Grill the skewers, flipping often to ensure a good char on all sides. Skewers can also be baked using the instructions above.
  • Serve the cooked pork rolled in rice paper rolls, as a noodle salad bowl or in a banh mi. See blog post for suggestions.

Notes

Calories are for the pork skewers only. Total calories will vary depending on method of serving.

Nutrition

Serving: 2skewers | Calories: 436kcal | Carbohydrates: 10.7g | Protein: 7.9g | Fat: 40.1g | Saturated Fat: 14.6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 18.7g | Cholesterol: 54.4mg | Sodium: 429.7mg | Potassium: 261.6mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 4.8g
Nutrition Facts
Vietnamese Lemongrass Grilled Pork (Thịt Nướng)
Amount Per Serving (2 skewers)
Calories 436 Calories from Fat 361
% Daily Value*
Fat 40.1g62%
Saturated Fat 14.6g91%
Polyunsaturated Fat 4.3g
Monounsaturated Fat 18.7g
Cholesterol 54.4mg18%
Sodium 429.7mg19%
Potassium 261.6mg7%
Carbohydrates 10.7g4%
Fiber 0.1g0%
Sugar 4.8g5%
Protein 7.9g16%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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Comments

  1. Khai says

    February 18, 2025 at 10:47 am

    Reminds me of how my mom made them! I used pork butt instead and added a tsp of MSG. Very authentic recipe!

    Reply
    • Suzanne Nuyen says

      March 12, 2025 at 4:42 pm

      Glad you liked it Khai!

      Reply
  2. Thien Tran says

    March 22, 2024 at 2:36 pm

    5 stars
    So authentic! Flavors are spot on! No longer do I have to shell out $5+ a stick at those food fairs! I used pork butt and definitely needed some added fat as the PB was too lean for my taste. Will try with the suggested skinless pork belly next time! I also sub'd fried shallots instead of fresh cuz it was what I had on hand, still delicious! Thank Chi Suzanne!

    Reply
    • Suzanne Nuyen says

      September 17, 2024 at 6:07 pm

      Thank you for the kind review Thien! If you find that skinless pork belly is too fatty, you can try doing half and half.

      Reply
  3. Douglas Matthews says

    October 17, 2023 at 6:28 pm

    3 stars
    Hi Suzanne,
    Excellent recipie. The hardest thing was finding Lemongrass! I made these and some Nước Chấm to make a noodle bowl. Loved it. Thanks for the easy recipies.

    Reply
  4. Claire says

    February 18, 2022 at 11:07 pm

    How much oyster sauce is needed?

    Reply
    • Suzanne Nuyen says

      October 06, 2022 at 6:14 pm

      1 TBSP!

      Reply
  5. LE HOA says

    November 06, 2021 at 10:32 pm

    5 stars
    It is so delicious!

    Reply
    • Suzanne Nuyen says

      December 30, 2021 at 1:48 am

      Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

      Reply
4.35 from 20 votes (17 ratings without comment)

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Hi! I'm Suzanne, your Bun Bo Bae. I'm a journalist, professional amateur baker, noodle enthusiast and food photographer living in Washington, DC. My immigrant parents taught me everything I know about Vietnamese home cooking, and now I want to share it with you!

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