After our shopping trip for Southeast Asian ingredients in Chinatown today, I couldn't wait to make either a Thai or Vietnamese dish. I originally thought I would have to wait until Monday to make something, but after our dinner plans with friends fell through this evening, I had the chance to cook tonight after all. Since I had ground pork, my first thought was either dumplings, or pork meatballs of some sort. I first got the idea to make meatballs from a recipe that I stumbled across in the March 2011 issue of Bon Appetit for Pork and Lemongrass Meatballs in Lettuce Cups. But I have recently been on a quest to make more of the recipes that I had bookmarked in our many Asian cookbooks - particularly after I enjoyed making a ton of Fuchsia Dunlop recipes during our Chinese New Year experiment. So I turned to Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet and low and behold, there was a recipe for Vietnamese Grilled Pork Balls. Score! And originally I wanted to make these pork meatballs into lettuce wraps, but after some discussion with Alex we decided to use the meatballs to top some rice vermicelli.
This recipe is another winner. Alex and I loved it. I feel like we go through streaks of good recipes, followed by streaks of recipes that are just ok. Right now we seem to be on a hot streak with Vietnamese recipes that started with our Caramelized Chicken with Lemongrass and Chilis. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure that we have ever made two Vietnamese recipes in a row. And we're actually talking about making almost all Thai and Vietnamese recipes next week, so this should be another fun experiment! Anyway, back to the recipe. Recipes and dishes like this one remind me why Vietnamese cuisine is among my very favorite cuisines. The flavors are so fresh, but so delicious. I love the combination of lime, spicy chili peppers, sugar, and fresh herbs. In my mind very few things can compare to Vietnamese food. Processing the pork in the food processor gives the pork meatballs a very fine texture. If I were you, I might make a double batch of the meatballs and save half of the mixture in the freezer. You can use the meatballs in dozens of ways - as a filling for banh mi, on top of rice noodles as we served them here, on top of a salad, or as a filling for lettuce wraps. You could also make them into Vietnamese pork sliders. This recipe is a little labor intensive. There are a lot of steps and a lot of dirty dishes by the time dinner is over. You have to make the meatballs themselves, the dipping sauce, the pickled carrots and daikons, and prep all of the garnishes and the noodles. The whole process takes a few hours (some of which is marinating and pickling time). But if you have some time on your hands, the end result (or results) is well worth it - dinner will be bright, fresh, and very flavorful. And fairly healthy to boot.
Recipes after the jump!
Vietnamese Noodle Combos
Adapted from Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet
By Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid
INGREDIENTS:
1 lb rice vermicelli or dried rice noodles, soaked in warm water for 15 minutes and drained, then briefly boiled and drained
1 head red-leaf lettuce, ribs removed
1 cup Pickled Carrots and Daikon
1 cup bean sprouts, rinsed and drained
Vietnamese Grilled Pork Balls (recipe below)
1 cup herbs (we used a combination of cilantro leaves, mint leaves, and Thai basil leaves)
1/2 of an English cucumber, very thinly sliced on the bias
nuoc cham
Cook noodles and set aside.
Place salad greens in a large serving bowl. Top with noodles, then vegetables, and lastly with meatballs. Garnish with herbs and drizzle on nuoc cham to taste.
Serve.
Vietnamese Grilled Pork Balls
Adapted from Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet
By Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid
INGREDIENTS:
1 lb ground pork
1/4 cup shallots, minced
2 stalk lemongrass, trimmed and minced
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp Roasted Rice Powder (recipe below)
Combine ground pork, shallots, lemongrass, garlic, fish sauce, sugar and pepper a food processor and process until the mixture forms a smooth paste. Add rice powder and process very briefly to blend. Place ground pork mixture in a sealed container and allow to marinate in the refrigerator for at least one hour, and up to 24 hours (we marinated for about 2 1/2 hours). Remove pork from the refrigerator. Pour 1 tsp vegetable oil in each of two large plates. Moisten your hands with some of the oil. Pick up 1 tbsp of the pork mixture and shape it into a tight ball. Set pork balls on the oiled plates and repeat with remaining paste. We cooked the meatballs in a cast iron skillet so we didn't bother to skewer them.
Heat a cast iron skillet over moderate heat. Add 1 tbsp vegetable oil. Once the pan is hot, add the meatballs. Cook meatballs until golden brown on all sides and cooked through, about 10-12 minutes. To check if the meatballs are fully cooked you can cut one open. If it is firm and no longer pink inside, it is done. Remove meatballs from heat and serve.
Alternatively, you can cook the meatballs on the grill or under the broiler. If you are grilling or broiling your meatballs, place pork balls on skewers, with 3 to 4 balls on each skewer. If you're using bamboo skewers, make sure to soak them in water for at least 30 minutes. Place skewers on the grill or 5 inches from the broiler. Grill or broil for 10 minutes. Turn and continue cooking, then turn again to ensure that all sides got exposed to the heat. The meatballs will be cooked through, but still succulent after about 20 minutes.
Pickled Carrots and Daikon
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 lb carrots, peeled and sliced on the bias into thin matchsticks (we used our mandoline)
1/2 lb daikon, peeled and sliced on the bias into thin matchsticks (we used our mandoline)
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt, separated
1 cup water
1/2 cup rice vinegar
2 1/2 tbsp sugar
Add carrots and daikon to strainer. Sprinkle in 1/2 tsp salt and toss to mix. Place over a bowl or in the sink and allow to stand for 20-30 minutes. Rinse carrots and daikon briefly in cool water, then pat dry and transfer to a non-reactive bowl. Set aside.
Combine water, remaining 1 tsp salt, rice vinegar and sugar in a non-reactive saucepan. Bring to a boil. Stir and remove from heat. Allow mixture to cool to room temperature.
Pour vinegar mixture over the vegetables. Stir to combine. Let stand for 1 hour before serving.
INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup uncooked jasmine rice
Heat a skillet over medium-low or medium heat. Add rice. Roast the rice, stirring regularly, until the begin to turn golden brown and start to smell really nutty, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Once rice has cooled for about 5-10 minutes, grind to the desired consistency in a spice grinder or in a mortar and pestle.
Nuoc Cham (Basic Dipping Sauce)
Into the Vietnamese Kitchen: Treasured Foodways, Modern Flavor
By Andrea Nguyen
INGREDIENTS:
1/3 cup fresh lime juice (juice from 2-3 limes)
1 tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar (optional)
3 tbsp sugar
2/3 cup lukewarm water
5-6 tbsp fish sauce
2-3 Thai chilis, thinly sliced (can substitute serrano chilis)
2 cloves garlic, minced (optional)
In a small bowl, combine lime juice, sugar and water. Whisk to dissolve the sugar. Add fish sauce, starting out with 5 tbsp and adding more to taste if necessary (we used the full 6 tbsp). Aim for a light honey or amber-colored sauce with a balance of sour, sweet and salty. Add chilis and garlic. Stir to combine. Allow to sit at room temperature 30 minutes before serving.
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