This is one of my favourite Vietnamese meals, the combination of barbecue pork with lemongrass and seasoned with nuoc cham (fish sauce) really makes this a special dish. As soon as the pork hits the bbq you will have many new friends lured in by the sweet, smokey smell of barbecue pork. This is a firm favourite on those hot humid nights in Vietnam . As you can probably tell it is a great dish to have during the summer months. It is also great if you have large crowds to feed. Once they taste the pork everyone will be coming back for more.
This dish has three different components, pork, pickled carrot and nuoc chum dressing. However you can prepare most of the components ahead of time. Once everything is ready it is quite quick to cook. The longer you let the pork marinate the better it will be. Serve this recipe which serves 5 people with rice.
Ingredients
Pork (1kg, preferably pork chops but you can use any other quick frying cut)
Lemongrass (3 sticks, finely sliced)
Garlic (3 cloves diced)
Condensed Milk (4 Tbsp)
Fish Sauce (4 Tbsp)
Oyster Sauce (2 Tbsp)
Soy Sauce (2 Tbsp)
Vegetable Oil (1 Tbsp)
Spring Onions ( 2, finely sliced)
Tomatoes (2, sliced)
Fresh Coriander (handful, roughly chopped)
Fresh Mint (handful, roughly chopped)
Fresh Thai Basil (Optional, 5 leaves, roughly chopped)
Fresh Vietnamese Mint (Optional, 5 leaves, roughly chopped)
Nuoc Chum (Fish Sauce Dressing)
Fish Sauce (5 Tb)
Water (25 Tb)
Sugar (5 Tb)
Garlic (2 cloves finely sliced)
Chilli (1 small chilli finely sliced)
Lemon (1, juice)
Pickled Carrot
Carrots (2, julienne)
Sugar (2 Tbsp)
Water (½ cup)
Vinegar (¼ cup)
Method
Prepare the pickled carrot first as it needs to soak for at least 2 Hours.
Julienne carrots and put in a bowl or container with vinegar, water and sugar. Set aside.
Put pork in a bowl and begin to prepare the marinade.
Slice lemongrass and garlic and put in the bowl.
Put condensed milk, fish sauce, oyster sauce, soy sauce and vegetable oil in with the pork and mix thoroughly. Put in the fridge to marinate for at least 2 hours. If you have time let it marinate overnight.
Prepare the nuoc chum dressing by combining all ingredients in a bowl and stir. This quantity will leave you with leftovers for drizzling over any other rice dishes in the future. This Vietnamese staple lasts at least 2 weeks in your fridge.
Take the pork out of the fridge and grill on the BBQ on medium to high heat. Some of the marinade and lemongrass will burn on the BBQ but don’t worry all the great flavour is already in the pork and the smell will attract some new friends. If you can't use a BBQ just use a hot skillet or fry pan
If there is any fat on the pork make sure you place it directly on the grill at the end of cooking to crisp it up and make it delicious.
Set the pork aside and let it rest for a couple of minutes. While resting Slice the spring onions, tomatoes and roughly chop coriander, mint and any other fresh herbs you are using.
Once the pork is cooked slice into bite size pieces.
Serve pork on a bed of rice with pickled carrot, tomatoes and garnish with the deliciously fragrant herbs.
To finish pour 3-4 Tbsp of the nuoc chum dressing over the entire dish to give it the X factor.
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