Vietnamese Grilled Pork

Hey, what’s up? I forgot I had a blog there for awhile. I’ve been busy balancing home life, personal life, work life, etc. Been eating a lot, but not blogging about it. But don’t worry. More blog posts are coming. I’ve eaten at Bliss twice now, and have some cool food events coming up soon.

Home-cooked meals these days are more about convenience and health, with my dad living with us. He’s at home all day, and he needs to be eating healthy, so it’s important that we have relatively healthy meals for dinner.

It’s also about convenience. By the time we get home and work out, it’s usually about 6:30 or 7. If we started cooking a long meal then, we wouldn’t eat until 9. That seemed OK when it was just the two of us, but now it seems unrealistic.

This recipe is pretty quick. Marinating the pork overnight worked out well, since all we had to do the next day was throw it on the grill. I sauteed up some bok choy from our CSA and some shiitakes, and made some rice. Voila, easy and tasty pork.

It makes a great lunch the next day too.

Recipe from Viet World Kitchen

Vietnamese Restaurant-Style Grilled Lemongrass Pork
Thit Heo Nuong Xa

Serves 4

1 pound boneless pork shoulder steak, about 1/2 inch thick

Marinade:
11/2 to 2 tablespoons granulated or light brown sugar
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped shallot or yellow onion
1 stalk lemongrass, trimmed and finely chopped (3 tablespoons)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon dark (black) soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon oil

1. Cut the pork shoulder steak into pieces about 3 to 4 inches big. Set aside.

2. Put the sugar, garlic, shallot and lemongrass into an electric mini chopper and process to a fine texture. (Or, mince the garlic, shallot, and lemongrass individually, put them into a bowl, and add the sugar.) Add the pepper, soy sauce, fish sauce, and oil and process to combine well. Aim for a relatively smooth texture. The marinade will be chocolate brown. Transfer to a bowl.

3. Add the pork, and turn to coat well. Cover and set aside at room temperature to marinate for 1 hour. Or, refrigerate up to 24 hours, letting the meat sit out at room temperature for 45 minutes to remove some of the chill before grilling.

4. Preheat a grill to medium-high. Grill for 6 to 8 minutes, turning frequently, until cooked through. Nick with a knife to test. Transfer to a plate, loosely cover with foil or an inverted bowl for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.