Vietnamese grilled pork meatballs

Kids can eat these meatballs straight from the skewer. Adults can slide them off and wrap them in lettuce leaves, along with slivers of cucumber, shredded carrots and fresh herbs. Serve them with a tangy nuoc cham dipping sauce.

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon fish sauce

2 teaspoons light soy sauce

1 large garlic clove, crushed

500g minced pork

peanut or vegetable oil, for brushing

rice, steamed, to serve

8 bamboo skewers, soaked for 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS FOR ADULTS

4 iceberg lettuce leaves

1/2 telegraph cucumber, halved lengthways and sliced on the diagonal

1 carrot, shredded

1 spring onion, sliced

small handful coriander leaves

small handful vietnamese mint

NUOC CHAM DIPPING SAUCE

1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1/2 teaspoon brown sugar

1-2 birdseye chillies, finely chopped

1 small garlic clove, crushed

METHOD

Combine the fish sauce, soy sauce and garlic in a bowl. Add the minced pork and mix with your hands. Form the mixture into 28 balls, each about 2 cm in diameter. Thread the meatballs onto eight pre-soaked skewers – 3 meatballs per skewer for the kids and 4 meatballs per skewer for the adults. Refrigerate the skewers for 30 minutes to let them firm up.

Heat a barbecue grill or a frying pan to a medium–high heat.

Brush the meatballs with a little oil and cook them, turning frequently, for 6–8 minutes, or until browned on all sides and cooked through.

DISH ONE

Serve the meatball sticks with plain rice for the kids.

DISH TWO

To make the nuoc cham sauce, combine the ingredients with 1½ tablespoons of water in a small bowl. Serve the meatballs with the iceberg lettuce cups, cucumber, carrot, spring onion, coriander and mint, and the dipping sauce.

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