Nem Nướng - Grill Pork Patty

You can serve nem nuong with banh mi.

This recipe for nem nuong is one of the most versatile recipes of all time.  There are so many different application for this that I don't know where to start.  I love to use this with sandwiches and added to rice paper rolls.

2 lbs ground pork (or chicken)
10 cloves garlic, mashed and minced
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 Tbsp fish sauce
1-3 drops of red food coloring (optional)
1 Tbsp single acting baking soda or tapioca or cornstarch
1/4 cup warm water

In a bowl, place the ground meat with the garlic, sugar, fish sauce, and food color.  Sprinkle the baking soda/tapioca/cornstarch as you combine the ingredients.  Slowly add a teaspoon at a time of water into the meat mixture and combine well.  You want the mixture to be moist but not dripping wet.  Allow the mixture to set for about 30 minutes.

Shape the patties to whatever size you like.  In the picture above, I made an oval shape that I will add to a submarine or hoagie roll.  You shape these into little meatballs and serve it over rice noodles.  You can cook this on a grill pan or regular pan.  Cooking time will very depending on the thickness of your shape.

Thịt Heo Quay - Crispy Roast Pork

Crispy pork cooked on a gas grill. 

Difficulty: Medium

I only make this dish on special occasion because it takes too much effort in regards to watching it when it is cooking.  If you never had it before, it is an absolute treat.  The skin is cooked until crispy and crackling.  The Chinese 5-spice seasoning makes the meaty part just divine.  In the picture above, I tested the pork on a gas grill and it wasn't as easy as the oven version because it kept catching on fire because of the high fat.  The oven method allowed from the pork to cook at more controlled environment and dying out the surface to allow for the skin to crisp up.

1 to 1.5lb of pork belly
1/8 tsp Chinese 5-spice powder
3 tsp Kosher salt divided 2 to 1
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1.5 tsp of sugar
2 cloves garlic minced finely
.5 tsp baking powder

Wash and clean the pork belly.  You want to scald the skin side with boiling water and scraping it with the side of my knife and pat dry.  Score diamond cuts into the meaty side of the meat.  You also score the skin side, carefully making sure that you don't cut all the way through to the fat.  You can also stab the skin side with skewers.  Mix together the Chinese 5-spice, 1 tsp of salt, sugar, minced garlic, and black pepper and rub into the meaty sides, making sure that you don't touch the skin side.

Rub the baking soda on the skin and wipe off any excess.  Let the pork belly rest in the fridge for a couple of hours so the meat can marinade.  Heat up the oven to 400-degrees.  Before putting it in the oven, rub the remaining 2 tsp of salt on the skin and place it on a raised baking rack.  Cook with the skin side down for about 35-40 mins.  Take the meat out of the oven and flip the pork belly over and wipe off any excess fat.  You can use skewers and stab any extra holes so that the skin can bubble up and become crispy.  Place the meat back on the highest rack, closest to the broiler element and allow it to cook and dry up.  This step, you want to watch with the oven door open so to make sure it doesn't burn.  If there is a lot of fat, use paper towel to blot off the excess to ensure maximum crispiness.

Once done, let the pork belly rest for 10-15 minutes before cutting.

Cutting tip:  You want to cut through the meaty side first and stop at the skin. Once at the skin, use the other hand to whack down on the knife or otherwise the crispy skin will come off as one piece.

Sườn Bò Nướng Tẩm Gia Vị Hàn Quốc - Korean Galbi - 갈비

My version of the Korean galbi

Galbi served with Boston leaf lettuce, shiso leaf, pickled carrots and ssamjang.

Difficulty: Medium

The LA style of the beef ribs were on sale and I was inspired to make some Korean galbi for my family.  I don't cook Korean food or even eat it often, but  I had fond memories of sitting around the table eating Korean food on a Friday at an office I use to work at.

I usually get my marinade from a bottle because I wasn't very familiar with the flavors components to come up with a marinade myself. This time I wasn't going to pay $5.00+ for a bottle.  So I went to ol' Maagchi's webpage to get some inspiration.  I am looking at the recipe and thought that there is no way I was going to pay $3.00+ for an Asian pear for this recipe!!!  We are on a budget.  So I pondered for a few moments and I know that the majority of the marinade is a soy sauce base and every Korean swears on sesame oil.  So this is the marinade I came up with from all the ingredients that came from my kitchen.  I personally like the flavors better than any Korean restaurant I have been too.  I hope you enjoy.

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup water

1 tsp sesame oil

1 inch nub ginger root

2 stalks green onion, white parts only, smashed with the side of your knife

4-5 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp honey

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1/4 cup organic apple juice
1/2 small organic apple, peels and cored

Ssamjang paste

3-3.5 lbs of beef ribs

Take all your solid ingredients and placed them into a mini chopper and chop until you have a paste.  Add all your liquid ingredients and set aside.  If you don't have a chopper, smash everything together in a mortar and pestle or smash everything with the side of your knife and rock the knife over it and scrap them over your cutting board to make a paste.

Wash you beef ribs well by scrapping the exposed parts of the bones with your knife to remove any bone fragments.  Also remove the membrane from the underside of the bones.  Afterwards, rinse several times to ensure that it is well cleaned and allow for it to sit in a strainer or colander to remove any excess water.

In a large zip top bag, place the well drained ribs in with the marinade.  Let it sit for at least 4 hrs, preferably overnight.  Take the ribs out of the fridge for at least 30 mins before grilling.

When grilling you want the grill very hot.  Depending on the thickness, you will be aiming between 3-7 mins total.  Look for shrinkage around the bones and also the meat will bounce back a little when you press on it.

I like to eat mine wrapped in lettuce with pickled daikon and carrots with some fresh cucumber slices.  You can use the Korean soybean paste with the hot pepper paste as a condiment for this dish.  I prefer the Vietnamese nuoc cham.

soybean paste

Hot pepper paste

Cánh Gà Nướng Xả - Lemongrass Grilled Chicken

Difficulty: Easy to Medium

The smell of lemongrass brings me back to my childhood on the Mississippi gulf coast.  The smell of the lemongrass when it hits the heat of a grill makes my mouth waters.  When I went to Vietnam, I remember the smell of it in the air as I drove down Hwy 1.  There is no other seasoning that comes close to the lemony, grassy smell.  My favorite dish using lemongrass is the grilled wings.

10 wings, cut into two pieces or three and disgarding the tips
1-2 stalks of lemongrass mince white parts only or 3 Tbsp prepared lemongrass from the freezer section
3 cloves of garlic finely minced
1 medium shallot
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
2 Tbsp fish sauce
1 Tbsp of neutral oil
2 tsp of brown sugar
1-2 Thai bird chili, more or less depending on how hot you like

Wash and cut your chicken wings in sections as desired. Pat wings dry.  In a large bowl or zip top bag, add all your ingredients.  Place the wings into marinade and allow to marinade for at lease 2 hours or overnight.

Heat up grill until about 400-degrees on a gas grill or hold your hand over a charcoal grill for no more than 3 seconds.  Grill for about 10-12 mins on each side.  It maybe shorter, depending on how hot the grill gets. You want to look for shrinkage at where the joints are at.

This dish goes great with a papaya salad and some rice.

My lunch for 3.

Thai inspired Grilled Wings

Difficulty: Easy

One of my high school friends has a blog on her Thai inspired dishes.  I am a sucker for some wings and I had to give this recipe a try.  It is very inexpensive to make and it is very addictive.  Of course, I never follow any recipe to the tee and I modify recipes to what I have available at the house and adjust taste to my liking. Here is a link to the original recipe.  I hope you enjoy it.

20 whole wings, cut up however you prefer
8-10 cloves of garlic
1 large shallot
2 Tbsp minced lemongrass, the light parts or already prepared from the frozen food section
1-2 Tbsp of finely chopped ginger
2-4 Tbsp of sambal olek, more or less depending on heat level
1 Tbsp of palm sugar or brown sugar
2 tsp of honey
1/2 cup of soy sauce
1 small gumball size piece of wet tamarind (minus the seed) or a 1/2 tsp of powdered version

Prep your wings and make sure they are nice and dry before adding the marinade.  Mix the remaining in ingredients into a gallon zip top bag or a large mixing bowl.  I usually use a food chopper and chop everything at one time.  Let it sit for at least 3 hours or preferably overnight.  If you placed it in the fridge, please take them out and let them sit for 15 minutes before grilling.  Depending on your gas or charcoal method, cook until there is a little bit of shrinkage.  It usually take a total of 15 minutes.

Nem Nướng̣ - Grilled Vietnamese Sausage

Nem is a ground pork mixture.  Roll it up in a wrapper and fry and it is called an eggroll/Imperial roll.  Grill it and it is called nem nuong.  Flatten it out and cook it and it is called cha. Roll it in rice paper and it is a fresh roll.  It is very inexpensive to make and if you plan it out, you can make several days of meals with different spices and seasonings.

The following recipe is one of my family's favorite.  We grab a couple of loaves of crusty baggettes, toast them up, spread some mayo and pate, sprinkle on some soy sauce and fresh cut peppers, stuff them fat with pickled julienne carrots and daikons and add the nem and dress it up with some cilantro on top.

Nem Nuong:

1 lb all-natural ground pork/chicken
10 cloves garlic
1 large shallot
1/4 cup of organic sugar
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp freshly ground organic black pepper
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp fish sauce
1/2 tsp oil

With the side of your knife, whack the garlic to remove the paper.  Finely chop and mince the garlic.  Finely dice the shallot bulb. In a large bowl, add your pork, garlic, shallot, sugar, salt, black pepper, oil, and fish sauce.  Dissolve the baking powder by adding a few drops of water into the baking powder, just enough to easily mix into the meat mixture.  Add all the ingredients together. Allow the mixture to rest for about 30 minutes.

Before grilling, shape the mixture into little patties, any shape of your liking.  I like to shape them depending on what I am using the nem for: long wide and flat shape for banh mi, little round meatballs for noodles, log shaped for fresh rolls, etc.

Heat up the grill, grill pan and make sure that the cooking surface is hot before putting the nem on.  Grill for about 3-4 minutes on each side.