Grilled Pork Patties with Lettuce, Noodles, Peanuts, and Mint, Hanoi Style

I love pasta. I love it in the winter with creamy sauce to warm you on the inside. I love it in the summer with fresh herbs. Lately my favorite pastas are these big Vietnamese noodle bowls. Remember this one? Well, I've tried another one and you know what, I just may like it even better.

This new version is very similar, though the chicken is replaced with pork patties. These pork patties are to die for. Really. The recipe calls for using 1/2 pound of ground pork to make the patties and 1/2 pound of sliced boneless pork. I just used a pound of ground pork and made all pork patties (and I'm glad I did, since they were wonderful).

The thing about this recipe is that you have to make several components - the caramel sauce (or brown sauce), the dipping sauce, and the pickled carrots. But there is plenty of each of these condiments for several dinners. So, if you make them once, you can have a pretty easy meal a couple of more times that week.

Grilled Pork Patties with Lettuce, Noodles, Peanuts, and Mint, Hanoi Style
adapted from Quick & Easy Vietnamese: 75 Everyday Recipes
Serves 6-8 (it served 4 for us)

Pork Patties
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar sauce
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 pound ground pork
1/4 cup finely chopped green onions

Accompaniments
1/4 thin rice noodles (or angel hair pasta)
Everyday Dipping Sauce
Everyday Pickled Carrots
3 cups shredded lettuce leaves
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 cup chopped roasted and salted peanuts

Combine all the ingredients for the pork patties in a medium bowl and set aside while you prepare the accompaniments. You can refrigerate these for a day if you want to prepare them ahead.

Cook the pasta according to directions. Drain and rinse under cool water.

Prepare the dipping sauce and the pickled carrots. Prepare the brown sugar sauce, by combining 3/4 cup water with 3/4 cup brown sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and then adjust to maintain a lively simmer. Simmer for about 5 to 10 minutes until it's a dark, rich syrup. You may refrigerate this in a jar for up to a month.

Shape the patties using about 2 tablespoons of the pork mixture. Either preheat a grill or a grill pan. Cook the patties, turning once or twice until they are cooked through and nicely brown.

Assemble the bowls in this order: lettuce on the bottom, then the noodles, then the accompaniments and topped with the pork patties. Be sure and spoon lots of the dipping sauce over the top. Enjoy!

This will be my entry for this week's Presto Pasta Nights hosted by Katie at Thyme for Cooking.