Vanessa’s Vietnamese Lemongrass BBQ Pork Recipe
The original recipe for this dish (and the delicious/amazing picture) can be found on the Omsom website here, recipe is attributed Emily Chan.
Omsom, started by two first-gen Vietnamese sisters, Vanessa and Kim Pham is one of those once in a lifetime brands that literally created new playbooks for the CPG industry, never strayed from its original vision of damn delicious asian foods, and insanely cool collaborations with tastemaker chefs. Last week, it was announced that the business was acquired by DayDayCook, and as such, I thought it would be such a fun opportunity to republish a conversation that Tasha and I had with Vanessa Pham years ago when we were running the ManifestHer podcast AND share THIS recipe, which I had I asked Vanessa for, so that I could write it down and have it for Charlie.
I don’t think I’ve ever shared this publicly, but when I originally started writing recipes down on my blog, it really served two purposes for me:
1) Have a place where I could go and find my favorite recipes, in one single location, so when I was at the store and had a hankering for something delicious, I didn’t have to scroll through three pages of Google results, and the gauntlet of advertisements on every single cooking blog, in order to be able to create one of my favorite dishes (time saver!)
AND
2) so I could compile a list of all my favorite recipes for Charlie, in a cookbook that I would give her on her first birthday, a book which would include “Recipes and Recipes for Success” from the most inspiring women I've connected with on my journey, memorializing their stories and favorite foods, so that one day Charlie would have them and be able to enjoy them as she pursued her own ambitions.
Then of course this happened, my friends would come over, I would cook for them (one of these amazing dishes) and they’d ask for the recipe, so I’d send them a link. They’d subscribe to the blog and then let me know how much they’d loved another recipe they’d discovered. Anywho, I ended being like “you know, I think that maybe I should share these recipes more broadly,” and as such, my newsletter went from just being about sharing ideas in life and business, to being what it is today — recipes for success in life, career, and the kitchen.
So anywho… bringing this all together. Vanessa Pham, icon, was one of the first women I ever interviewed on my podcast, and also one of the first women to ever share a recipe that was only ever intended to go to Charlie, but is now living here on this blog. I hope you will make it, enjoy it, and enjoy the raw audio version of our conversation with Vanessa from years ago when Omsom wasn’t a success story, but very much a really cool brand, with a really great vision, an incredible team, and insanely good sauces.
Alright… onto the recipe now :)
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What You’ll Need
Pork
1 lb. skinless pork shoulder and/or belly
1 tbsp avocado oil
1 pack of Omsom Vietnamese Lemongrass BBQ Starter
Or if you want to create your own marinade:
3 tbsp shallots, minced
1.5 tbsp garlic, minced
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tbsp thick soy sauce
1/2 tbsp pepper
3 tbsp avocado oil
Nước chấm (Fish Sauce)
6 tbsp warm water
4 tbsp sugar
6 tbsp fish sauce
1 lime, halved
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bird's eye chili pepper, thinly sliced
Rice Noodles
8 oz dried rice vermicelli noodles
Garden of Greens
16oz of green leafy lettuce
1 cup of Mint (or Vietnamese Balm if you can find it)
1 cup of cucumbers, sliced
1 cup of daikon and carrots, thinly sliced
2 tbsp scallion
2 tbsp crushed peanuts
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How to Make
First, prep your pork
Slice pork thinly, about ¼ inch thick or less. (Pro tip: For easier thin slicing, firm the pork in the freezer for 20 minutes.)
Season pork with ½ tsp. each of salt and pepper.
Combine pork, 1 tsp. oil, and the Omsom starter in the mixing bowl.
Stir to coat pork evenly. Marinate for at least 15 minutes or overnight for bolder flavor.
Next, pickle your daikon and carrots
Wash, peel and cut the daikon radish and carrots to the shape you like (I do thin match-stick-like shape), put in a medium sized bow
Massage 1 tbsp of salt into the freshly cut radish and carrots and let it sit for ~15 minutes while it draws out the bitter water
Create your pickling brine - In a separate bowl, mix together ½ cup white vinegar, ½ cup + 2 tablespoons hot water, ½ cup sugar and set aside.
Now, go back to your salted daikon and carrots and rinse well with cold water, straining out any remaining liquid.
Combine your salted daikon and carrots with your pickling brine, and set aside
Now, make your Nước chấm (fish sauce)
Put 4 tbsp sugar and 6 tbsp warm water into a bowl, then mix until sugar is completely dissolved
Add 6 tbsp fish sauce sauce and stir
Squeeze lime juice from 1 lime, and scrape pulp into this mixture. (Pro tip: Use a fork to scrape out the flavorful pulp, but not the bitter membrane)
Add 3 cloves of minced garlic, and thinly sliced bird's eye chili pepper to taste. (Note: If you see the chopped garlic, chilis, and even some lime pulp floating. This means you did it right!)
Now, get your veggie garden and garnish ready
Break your lettuce up into serving portions
Finely chop your mint
Slice your cucumbers
Finely chop your scallion
Crush your peanuts
Now, cook your noodles
Bring water to a boil on the stovetop
Add your rice noodles to the boiling water and cover with a lid
Let cook for 15-20 mins depending on how thick your noodles are (15 for thinner, 20 for thicker)
Strain and let noodles cool, you can add a tiny bit of avocado oil to prevent them from getting sticky
Next, get your pork cooked up on the stovetop
On medium high, heat 1 tbsp avocado oil in the skillet for 2 minutes
Cook pork for 3 minutes, letting it sear on one side
Flip and cook for another 3 minutes or until cooked through
Finally, compile everything!
Noodles on bottom
Veggie garden, garnish and pickled daikon and carrots on top
Pork right next to your veggie garden and garnish
Drizzle your fish sauce over the top of it all! (or serve on the side so everyone can choose their own sauce adventure)
Enjoy!
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Author’s Note about this Recipe: Sometimes the recipes I post here are my own, other times, they are compilations of recipes from other people that I have to bring together in new and fun ways to ensure you have the easiest recipe-making experience! The original recipe for this dish is attributed to Emily Chan, and can be found on the Omsom website here. I also pulled in other inspiring elements from here, here, and here, compiling all of it under one roof so you could make this insane recipe for you and your loved ones!
Author’s Note about Omsom and the fabulous Vanessa Pham: If you loved this recipe, then you will probably love Vanessa Pham’s Recipe for Success on Leadership, who’s company, Omsom, was recently acquired by DayDayCook. You may recognize the name Omsom from having been featured in Epicurious, Thrillist, Food & Wine Mag, Tech Crunch, Vogue and more! The brand did insane collaborations with boundary-pushing, award winning NYC chefs from Chat and Ohm Suansilphong from Fish Cheeks, NYC, to Nicole Ponseca at Jeepney, NYC, and Jimmy Ly Madame at Madame Vo.
Vanessa is is the daughter of Vietnamese refugees, and she grew up in her family’s kitchen counter, watching her Mẹ cook Vietnamese dinners from scratch every night - because like so many moms, this was her love language to her children.
Vanessa is a Harvard grad and in her past life she and her co-founding sister cut their teeth in startups and management consulting. But after sometime, she couldn’t refuse the call to return to her roots and finally build the company of her dreams.
Omsom is a vietnamese phrase meaning noisy, rambunctious, riotous, most often used by parents to scold unruly, raucous children in the back of the car. Vanessa and her sister lived out this ethos with loud, proud flavors, launches and collabs. IYKYK about their Noodles launch party.
