Taking the classic savoury Vietnamese pork sandwich and turning it into a mouthwatering pork fried rice recipe. Juicy marinated pork and crispy fried rice with bright crunchy vegetables is one of our favourite weekday dinners.
This Banh Mi Fried Rice came about during the pandemic as a meal to avoid bread in all honesty. Bread was flying out the door at an alarming pace and I wanted a wholesome meal my kids would get behind, without cutting the crust off the bread … again.
Enter the delicious Banh Mi sandwich turned easy fried rice recipe. We’ve got all the fixing we love from a Banh Mi recipe: crispy marinated pork, bright crunchy and tangy vegetables, and a dollop of sriracha mayo if desired.
And yes, I’m still a pansy when it comes to spice so I’ve adjusted the sriracha accordingly. And no, the kids did not have any.
I adore a solid clean out the fridge meal and this one completely fits the bill. Leftover rice, vegetables that may have seen better days, and a supremely juicy and tasty pork.
I ended up trying a couple of different cuts of pork for this recipe during the testing phase. While tenderloin was the easiest to slice and cook quickly at a higher heat, boneless pork loin worked well too.
The marinade has some sugar in it … shock and horror! It balances out the salt and vinegar from other ingredients. Do I think it’s necessary – yes. The ingredients balance each other out and the sugar helps with the caramelization on the exterior of the meat when it cooks, giving it that true Banh Mi flavour and look.
Now the marinade, like most, the longer you let the meat soak up the marinade, the more the flavours will come through. Here because the meat is sliced thinly you can get away with the meat sitting in the marinade for about an hour, but overnight is truly the tastiest.
A traditional Banh Mi recipe has quick pickled raw vegetables in it. For this fried rice recipe I added some cabbage and turned the garnishes into a slaw. I took my quick pickled vegetable from my Korean Pulled Pork Sliders and turned into more of a salad so I can consciously serve this dish as a full meal to my family.
My kids love the simple 2-ingredient dressing from the slaw. I contemplated adding the cabbage into the fried rice, which is a definite option. If you want to go this route, simply add the cabbage with 2 minutes left in the cooking time. One of my kids (my picky eater) will not eat cabbage cooked at the moment so I left it raw (this could change by lunch time today so you do you and what works best for your family).
How to make fried rice from scratch?
The most important piece is that the rice should be cold – as in cooked at least one day before and has been sitting in the fridge for a least a few hours. When the cold rice hits the hot oil, it’s like magic. The rice crisps up perfectly.
Which rice is perfect for fried rice?
As mentioned above, leftover cold rice is the best. Medium to long grain like basmati or jasmine are ideal as they won’t clump, but most will work. Sushi rice is not well suited to fried rice as it designed to stick together.
More easy fried rice ideas like this pork fried rice recipe:
Juicy marinated pork and crispy fried rice with bright crunchy vegetables is one of our favourite weekday dinners.
- 1-1.5 lbs pork tenderloin*, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 small shallot, thinly sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 medium lime, juice and zest
- 3 cups cooked rice**
- 2 tbsp high heat oil canola or avocado
- 3 tbsp rice vinegar
- 3 tsp granulated sugar
- 1 large carrot
- 4 medium radishes
- 1/2 medium cucumber
- 2 cups green cabbage
- 2 tbsp fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp mayonaise optional
- 1 tbsp sriracha*** optional
- 2 medium green onions, thinly sliced optional
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In a large glass bowl or large plastic freezer bag combine sliced pork, brown sugar, soy sauce, fish sauce, shallot, garlic, and lime zest and juice. Toss to coat meat.
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Refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours.
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Heat oil over medium-high heat in large heavy bottom pan or wok.
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Drain meat from marinade and add to hot oil. Let cook for 3-4 minutes or until that side of the meat is nicely caramelized. Flip to cook the other side.
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Add rice and mix until rice is coated in juices. Let cook for 3-4 minutes until rice is crispy and meat is cooked through.
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While meat and rice are cooking, thinly slice carrots, radishes, cucumber, and cabbage.
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In a large bowl mix together vinegar and sugar. Add sliced vegetables and toss to combine.
* I tried this recipe with both pork tenderloin and pork loin, they both worked well. The pork tenderloin is a little easier slice thinly.
** this equals 1 cup of uncooked medium to long grain dried rice
*** depending on how spicy you like things, you can add as much sriracha as you'd like.
Enjoy! xo
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