This is using the pork chop from the popular Pork Chop Rice to make a light, refreshing meal. Served warm, its perfect for those warm summer nights.
Pork Chop :
- 2 pieces of lean pork chops (remove skin if still on)
- 1 stem of lemon grass finely sliced (only use the bulb up to about half way up the stem)
- 1 clove of garlic
- 3 slices of ginger (approx 1mm thick each)
- 2 teaspoons of sugar
- 1 tablespoon of fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon of olive oil
Others :
- Rice vermicelli (enough to half fill 2 large bowls)
- 1/2 cup of shredded carrot
- 1 cup of bean sprouts
- 1 cup of shredded lettuce
- 1/2 cup of shredded cucumber
- 2 tablespoons of crushed peanuts
- 1/4 cup of roughly chopped mint leaves
- 1 cup of Nuoc Mam Cham (recipe for this elsewhere here)
Pork Chop:
Using a pestel and mortar, crush the ginger, garlic and lemon grass until it becomes a paste. Scoop this into a bowl and add the sugar, fish sauce and oil. Mix well. Spread this mix over the pork chops and massage the paste in. Leave them to marinate while you go about shredding the salad ingredients needed for the other part of this dish.
Boil some water in a pot and place the rice vermicelli into the boiling water. Turn the flame down and stir unitl the noodles change colour and become opaque and is cooked. Use the taste test if necessary. Once cooked, remove from heat, strain and run under cool water until the vermicelli no longer feels warm.
Now grill the pork chops on medium for about 6-8 minutes on each side. While grilling the chops, place your cold vermicelli in the base of a large bowl (only to half way up the bowl). Divide and arrange your salad ingredients on top of the vermicelli of each bowl in clumps except the mint and peanuts, leaving a space on top for your pork chops.
When the chops are ready, slice into thick 1cm pieces and place one chop in each bowl. Then top with chopped mint leaves and the crushed peanuts. You can add some Bi (shredded pork available at all good Vietnamese grocers) as shown in the photo.
To eat this, add Nuoc Mam Cham into the bowl, a couple of tablespoons at a time and mix it all up like a salad. How much of the sauce you use is up to you. Enjoy!!