Bun Cha – meatballs and pork belly grilled

Ingrédients :

  • 300 g of ground pork
  • 500 g of sliced ​​pork belly
  • 400 g rice vermicelli
  • 200 g green papaya
  • 1 lettuce
  • 1 garlic cloves
  • 1 red chili
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 onion
  • 1 bunch cilantro
  • 1 bunch mint
  • 1 bunch Thai basil
  • nuoc mam sauce
  • rice vinegar
  • sugar
  • salt
  • pepper
  • water

sauce:

  • 6 tablespoons of nuoc mam
  • 6 tablespoons rice vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 18 cl of water
  • 1 clove garlic

Préparation :

Chop the onion, garlic and red chili, put them in different bowls, wash and peel the lettuce, and cut into pieces about 5 cm and book.

Cut the pork belly into pieces about 5 cm.

In a bowl put 1 tablespoon of nuoc mam sauce, 1 tablespoon of sugar, ½ teaspoon of salt, ½ teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper and half the chopped onion, mix well until the sugar is well dissolved then add the slices of pork belly and marinate 2 hours in the fridge.

In another bowl put the remaining onion, 1 tablespoons of sugar, 1 tablespoons of fish sauce, ½ teaspoon of salt, ½ teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper, mix well until the sugar is well dissolved then add the ground pork stir and marinate 2 hours in the fridge.

Prepare the sauce by putting in a bowl, fish sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, water and garlic and stir well to dissolve sugar and refrigerate.

Peel the papaya and carrot, grated the papaya and make thin slices of ​​carrots sliced and put in a bowl and add 50 ml water and 10 tablespoons of rice vinegar and marinate in the fridge.

Prepare the noodles according to cooking instructions indicate on the package and set aside.

Shape the meatballs, chopped the same size then flatten them slightly for a homogeneous cooking.

Prepare the grill and arrange slices of pork belly and meatballs and cook 10 minutes per side.

Put in a large plate, the lettuce leaves, cilantro, the mint and the vermicelli.

Arrange the plates of the meatballs, slices of pork belly and pickled vegetables and then the individual bowls containing the sauce.

Put In the individual bowl of sauce, some vermicelli, marinated vegetables, coriander, mint and lettuce then add the meat of your choice and savor.

Tips : if you do not find green papaya, you can use a chayote or call christophine, the kohlrabi or the cucumber cut into julienne strips. You can also cook to oven, preheat oven to 180 ° C and bake for 10 minutes (5 minutes per side) for people who live in apartments.

Anecdotes : This is an emblematic dish of North Vietnam who equal the famous dish ” The Pho”, it is very appreciate of Vietnamese living in Hanoi. It can be eaten in small stalls on the pavement.

Tam Mak Houng – Som tam – bok l’hong – papaya salad

Ingredients :

  • 400 g of green papaya
  • 1 or 2 small lemons
  • 2 tomatoes
  • 2 fresh chilies
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 tablespoon of chopped Paderk (fermented fish brine)
  • 1 tablespoon of Nam pa (nuoc mam)
  • salt
  • 1 teaspoon of sugar
  • 1 teaspoon of glutamate

Preparation :

Wash and peel the green papaya. Grate the papaya into fine strips. Discard the seeds.
Mix the garlic and fresh chillies.
Then add the sliced ​​green papaya, lemon juice, the Paderk, Nam pa, a pinch of salt, glutamate and a little sugar to soften the acidity.
Cut the tomatoes in whole slices and add to mixture.
Serve the salad with lettuce leaves or stems of water spinach.

Tips : The Tam mak hung is traditionally eaten with the Kao Niao (sticky rice) and pork rind cracklings dried. Can be added to the composition of papaya salad according to your taste, the grated carrots, crushed peanuts, a small shrimps dried, the Kapi (shrimp paste), the Nampou (crab paste) …

Anecdotes : The tam mak hung, or green papaya salad, is a culinary institution Laotian. The green papaya is pounded with garlic, lemon and chilli.