This dish, though Asian influenced, does not really hail from any particular country or region.  However, the caramel sauce is distinctly a sauce from Vietnam.  The sauce both simple and complex imparts a subtle sweetness with hints of smoke and bitterness.  There’s really only one way to make a classic Vietnamese caramel sauce and directions for creating it can be found here.  It takes about a half hour to make but a little of it goes a long way and can be stored in a glass jar in your pantry indefinitely, so if you make it once, it will last a pretty long time.  In addition, there is a ton of different things you can do with the sauce beyond this recipe so, go ahead and make it and experiment with it!

The pork and vegetable base can be used in many different ways.  Here I simply used leaf lettuce as a wrap and garnished it with a few vegetables.  However, this mixture would be great with steamed buns, as a filling for dumplings, tossed on top of rice, or simply combine all the vegetables and pork and add more lettuce for a hearty Asian influenced salad.

There are a lot of ingredients with this recipe, but don’t let that be intimidating.  Beyond making the caramel sauce all the ingredients can be found at any grocery store and the whole thing should pull together in around an hour or so.  Also I used ground pork but this basic recipe/technique would work with diced or ground chicken, turkey, or even shrimp.

As an aside, Tara told me this was one of her favorite things that I’ve made in a very long time.  So, she really liked it.  We both really enjoy Asian influenced food and perhaps I need to make more of it since it was such a hit with her!  I thought it was great for dinner or you can certainly use it as an appetizer.  Enjoy…Recipe follows after the jump. Continue reading →