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Photo of Cao Lau (Vietnamese Noodle Bowl) by Michael Kuhn

Cao Lau (Vietnamese Noodle Bowl)

Rated as 3.75 out of 5 Stars
2 made it  |  3 reviews   |  1 photos
2

Recipe by:

"Cao lau is made with noodles, pork, and greens traditionally found only in the town of Hoi An, Vietnam. This recipe approximates authentic cao lau with easier-to-find ingredients. Use fresh rice noodles about the same thickness of linguine."
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Ingredients

1 h 30 m servings 488
Original recipe yields 6 servings

Directions

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  1. Whisk soy sauce, garlic, Chinese 5-spice, sugar, paprika, and chicken bouillon together in a large glass or ceramic bowl. Add pork cubes and toss to evenly coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
  2. Remove pork from marinade and shake off excess. Discard remaining marinade.
  3. Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over medium heat. Cook and stir pork in hot oil until browned, 4 to 7 minutes. Add water; cook and stir until water evaporates and pork is cooked through, about 2 minutes more.
  4. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Rinse rice noodles under cold water and gently break noodles apart. Immerse noodles in boiling water until about half tender, about 30 seconds. Add bean sprouts to the water and noodles; continue cooking until tender but still firm to the bite, about 30 seconds more. Drain.
  5. Combine noodles and pork mixture together in a large serving dish. Top noodles with lettuce, green onion, basil, cilantro, and crispy chow mein.
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Footnotes

  • Cook's Note:
  • Rice noodles are very easy to overcook. They should be quite firm (al dente). They can be overcooked in just a few seconds, turning soggy and pasty. It is best to use fresh Vietnamese-style rice noodles of about 1/4-inch thickness. If you have not cooked with these before, work it out on your own before planning this dish for guests. Don't serve this dish with overcooked noodles.
  • You can substitute rice paper croutons or broken chicharonnes for the crispy chow mein noodles.
  • Nutrition:
  • The nutrition data for this recipe includes the full amount of the marinade ingredients. The actual amount of the marinade consumed will vary.

Nutrition Facts


Per Serving: 488 calories; 8.1 78.1 23.7 49 373 Full nutrition

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Reviews

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I've never had Cao Lau before, so I pulled up recipes on the internet to see what it was supposed to look like when brought to the table. Every recipe had sliced pork instead of cubed, so I sli...

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This dish is served with a fish sauce over the noodles topped with raw veggies. Mint is a nice touch to fresh greens. Also have had it with slivered carrot and maybe white radish?. Can you re...

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I had to add a lot of soy sauce at the end to increase flavor. I would also use broccoli instead of lettuce if I make this again.

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