Skip to main content

Pork with Nuoc Cham

Image may contain Food Pork Pottery Vase Jar and Plant
Photo by Alex Lau, styling by Judy Mancini

This all-purpose sauce will go with any protein and doubles as a great dressing for summer salads.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    4 servings

Ingredients

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons fish sauce
½ teaspoon sugar
1 small garlic clove, finely chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro stems, plus leaves for serving
2 1-inch-thick boneless pork shoulder steaks (about 1 pound each)
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Prepare a grill for medium heat. Whisk lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, and 1 Tbsp. water in a small bowl until sugar is dissolved. Stir in garlic and cilantro stems; set nuoc cham aside.

    Step 2

    Place pork on a rimmed baking sheet and season generously on both sides with salt and pepper, then drizzle with oil and turn pork to coat. Grill, turning often and moving around on grill to prevent flare-ups, until lightly charred all over and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers 140° for medium), 12–15 minutes. Transfer meat to a cutting board and let rest 10 minutes before slicing.

    Step 3

    Spoon some of nuoc cham over pork and top with cilantro leaves. Serve remaining sauce alongside.

Read More
A punchy, spicy peanut vinaigrette transforms a simply grilled steak into a showstopping main.
The heat of pickled chiles brings a welcome zing that integrates well with the salty elements of puttanesca and acts like a counterweight to rich pork chops.
Braised until tender, then crisped in its own fat for perfect, crackly edges.
The high-impact flavors traditionally used in the marinade for Peruvian chicken—soy sauce, cumin, and paprika—are applied to grilled tofu with resounding success.
A blender dressing does double duty as both a flavorful marinade and a final dressing in this pared-back version of Vietnamese-style lemongrass chicken.
Thinly sliced and cooked hot and fast, pork tenderloin is the juicy, cook-quicking weeknight champion of this vegetable-heavy stir-fry.
Rehydrating dried cherries in hot water turns them plump and juicy—exactly what you want scattered throughout a rosemary-scented pan sauce for pork chops.
Using two entire lemons—pith, skin, and all—cranks up the citrus flavor in this classic dessert.