Food

Vietnamese lemongrass pork steaks | RecipeTin Eats

April 14, 2023

That is such a beautiful recipe to make use of economical pork shoulder in an thrilling new approach! A Vietnamese lemongrass marinade infuses with lovely flavour whereas a smidge of baking soda is the key to tenderising so the pork steaks are tender like premium chops. Vietnamese street-food!

Cooked Vietnamese noodles with lemongrass pork (Bún thịt nướng)

Vietnamese lemongrass pork

I’ve been eager to recreate the chargrilled lemongrass marinated pork you discover “in every single place” on the streets of Vietnam for years – nevertheless it all the time got here out dry. Lastly discovered the key to holding it juicy, so I needed to share the recipe instantly! 😂

Throughout Vietnam, variations of this lemongrass pork are served in numerous varieties. On rice, soups, in rice paper rolls, even in Banh Mi. Whereas all are scrumptious, my favorite are the favored Vietnamese noodle bowl salads, bun thit nuong. Skinny rice noodles, topped with this pork, pickled greens, lettuce, a smattering of peanuts, lime and served with nuoc cham, that sauce served with “all the pieces” in Vietnam.

On Friday, I’ll share the total noodle bowl recipe. I wished to publish the marinated pork individually as a result of I believe it’s worthy of your consideration!

Right here’s a photograph of the pork rice noodle bowls. I really took this photograph in Vietnam – it’s a dish I purchased from a road vendor in Saigon and took again to my resort to take a photograph:

Vietnamese Lemongrass Pork Noodle Bowls - Bun Thit Nuong

Oh look! And mentioned vendor in Saigon. 🙂 They cooked the pork on skewers over charcoal. I’m doing a house model – steaks on a range. So you can also make this any night time of the week – rain, hail or shine!

Best place to have Vietnamese Lemongrass Pork Noodle Bowls in Saigon (Bun Thit Nuong) - Bun Thit Nuong Chi Tuyen

Why you want this Vietnamese pork in your life!

Wonderful worth – It’s made utilizing economical pork shoulder that’s tenderised so it’s juicy like premium pork chops!
Flavour plus worth – The meat is sliced and pounded thinly for optimum flavour penetration and so much less meat goes additional.
One thing completely different however but really easy, with substances you may get from the native retailers.
Versatile – Serve at your subsequent BBQ with coconut rice and Asian slaw. Or wait till Friday to make Vietnamese noodle bowls!
Deliciousness issue is extraordinarily excessive for comparatively small effort

And since I do know somebody will ask – sure you can also make this with rooster, right here it’s! 🙂

Marinating Vietnamese lemongrass pork — The marinade goes foamy due to the baking soda which is the key tenderising ingredient!

What you want

Right here’s what you might want to make this.

Ingredients in Vietnamese noodles with lemongrass pork (Bún thịt nướng)

Pork shoulder – Usually, this economical, powerful minimize of pork is gradual cooked till it turns into fall-apart tender. Right now, we’re utilizing it in a very completely different approach. Sliced thinly, then marinated with baking soda which tenderises it so when it’s cooked hard-and-fast like steak, it’s tender like a dear pork chop. (Hyperlinks once more for glowing reader critiques who’ve found the surprise of this method with rooster and beef!).
Baking soda – also called bi-carb / bi-carbonate. As famous within the level above, that is what tenderises the powerful pork shoulder meat.
Lemongrass – For unmistakable, irreplaceable lovely Vietnamese flavour!
Limes – For tang. A Vietnamese meals favorite.
Sugar – For candy and caramelisation.
Soy sauce and fish sauce – The saltiness. I like to make use of each to get the best flavour steadiness. Solely fish sauce = too fishy. Solely soy sauce = lacks complexity of flavour.
Garlic – Heaps!
Oil – To extend the quantity of the marinade so there may be the best flavour infusion for the quantity of meat we’re utilizing. (Initially I simply had extra of all the opposite substances however the pork was too salty).

Pork shoulder for Vietnamese lemongrass pork — Pork shoulder

Pounding Vietnamese lemongrass pork — Pork shoulder

make Vietnamese lemongrass marinated pork

The important thing to this recipe is to slice and pound the pork as thinly as you may. This serves a number of functions:

head begin tenderising the flesh
opens up the fibres to permit the marinade to penetrate totally
will increase floor space and flattens the pork to enhance floor space char – for optimum actual chargrilled street-food flavour!
permits us to make this with economical pork shoulder somewhat than dear pork tenderloin or chops.

Slice the pork shoulder into eight thinnish items – offers us a head begin on the pounding. I discover it best to do that by reducing the pork on 45 diploma angle however if in case you have the best formed piece, you may simply minimize straight down.
PRO TIP: To get even(ish) items with out pulling out the scales, minimize the pork shoulder in half, then every half in half once more, then every in half once more. Voila – 8 items!
Pound to 5mm / 0.2″ thickness thick utilizing a meat mallet (the jagged facet) or rolling pin. Cowl with go-between or freezer baggage to forestall damaging the meat. (Go-between is a function made plastic sheet, bought alongside cling wrap. Additionally helpful for stacking meals within the freezer with out sticking collectively).
Publish pounding skinny pork!
Marinade – Combine the marinade substances in a bowl.
Coat pork Add the pork and use tongs to coat effectively.
Marinate 24 hours – Switch to a ziplock bag and marinate for twenty-four hours.
Why combine individually first? To make sure actually good, even distribution of the small quantity of bi-carb throughout numerous floor space. I wouldn’t ask you to soiled a bowl unnecessarily 🙂
Why a ziplock bag? As a result of it retains the meat utterly coated in a comparatively small quantity of marinade. If you happen to choose a container, use a small one so the meat is as snugly fitted as attainable and toss the pork a couple of times in the course of the marinading time.

Excessive warmth cooking – Cook dinner for 1 1/2 minutes in a scorching forged iron skillet OR in your BBQ over excessive warmth. Then cook dinner the opposite facet for 1 minute. Tremendous fast to cook dinner as a result of it’s so skinny!
Goal for a pleasant char – The pork will char shortly due to the sugar within the marinade and that’s what we wish, that genuine chargrilled flavour.
STILL TENDER! Technically, with 2 1/2 minutes of excessive warmth blasting, the skinny pork ought to be overcooked and dry inside, to not point out the powerful pork shoulder hasn’t been gradual cooked because it ought to so it ought to be horridly powerful. Nope! The within continues to be juicy, and it’s extra tender than you ever imagined pork shoulder could possibly be, because of the baking soda (learn extra on this above within the substances part).

NOTE: Meat tenderised utilizing the baking soda technique will probably be pink inside even when it’s cooked to effectively executed! It’s simply what occurs. It occurs with beef too. 🙂

As talked about above, I’ll share the Vietnamese Pork Noodle Bowls recipe on Friday. However assume past the noodle bowl! Serve it with a facet of coconut rice, Vietnamese purple fried rice or plain jasmine rice with a facet salad. Strive one in all these:

And simply earlier than I log off, yet one more sneak preview of this Friday’s noodle bowl:

Vietnamese noodles with lemongrass pork (Bún thịt nướng) ready to be eaten

It’s so good! ADORE the contrasting textures of the recent greens and herbs with the flavourful marinated lemongrass pork all doused in nuoc cham, the Vietnamese chilli-garlic sauce served with “all the pieces”.

What do you assume?? Have I satisfied you to present this Vietnamese pork a go? I hope so!!! If something, it’s value experiencing the magic of the marinade and the way tender it makes pork shoulder steaks. Strive it!! – Nagi x