Vietnamese Grilled Pork Balls

These juicy bites of seasoned pork wrapped in lettuce leaves and dipped in either peanut sauce or nuoc cham (fish sauce) are great any time. To make the roasted rice powder: Take about 1/4 cup of jasmine rice and dry roast it over medium high heat in a saute pan. You’ll need to toss it around a lot to prevent burning. The end result should be a nice golden puffy rice. Once cooled, process in a food processor or coffee/spice grinder until powdery.

Yield:

Serves 4

Ingredients

1. 1 pound lean pork, very thinly sliced
2. 1/4 cup shallots, minced
3. 1/4 cup garlic, minced
4. 2 tablespoons nuoc mam (fish sauce)
5. 1 teaspoon sugar
6. ground black pepper to taste
7. 2 ounces (50 grams) pork fat, minced
8. 2 tablespoons roasted rice powder
9. peanut oil
10. lettuce, herbs, bean sprouts, chilies, scallions and cucumber to garnish
11. nuoc cham (fish sauce) (to serve)
12. peanut sauce (to serve)

Directions

1. Whisk together the shallots, garlic, fish sauce, sugar and pepper.
2. Add pork and coat well.
3. Cover and marinate at least 1 hour (or up to 24) in the refrigerator.
4. When you’re ready to make the balls, place the meat in the freezer for about 30 minutes to firm.
5. Using a food processor, chop the pork fat into a paste.
6. Add pork and process until you have a sort of pasty ball.
7. Add the roasted rice powder and process to combine.
8. Lightly oil a large plate and your hands, and form smaller sized pork balls.
9. Thread 4 balls onto each skewer.
10. Grill over medium high heat–you’ll want to have a nice sear before turning, but once all sides are seared, lower heat a bit to cook through.
11. Serve wrapped in lettuce leaves with your choice of salad/herb ingredients and dipping sauce.

Notes