Vietnamese BBQ Grilled Pork skewers- “Thit Nuong”
Thit Nuong is one of the most popular dishes in Vietnamese restaurants and it’s often served in a noodle & fresh herb bowl with a side of fish sauce (nuoc mam Cham) aka Bun thit nuong.
Thinly cut pork belly or pork shoulder are slowly cooked on a grill until caramelized and slightly charred on the edges.
Sauce’y tip:
*Save the juices meat marinade and simmer for a few minutes, reserve the sauce, and brush mid grilling or cooking and/or lather on upon plating for extra sticky & saucey pork chops🤤!
*My dad uses a little whiskey or rum to help flavor the pork to be more fragrant
House of Trinh: The secret here is how my parents used honey and brown sugar in the pork marinade. The lemon grass adds a really nice aromatic to the pork chops while the honey adds a touch of sweetness and helps add color and caramelizes the edges of the pork.
Using quality fresh cracked black pepper also helps enhance the flavor as well as a quality fish sauce.
*Don’t throw out the marinade, you can use it to brush on extra sauce mid-grilling, OR you pour the leftover marinade in a pan and bring it to a boil for a few minutes (you can brush this over the meat after they’re done for a nice saucy glaze!
“NUOC MAM” DIPPING SAUCE
Nuoc Mam Cham
See recipe -here-.
INGREDIENTS
1.5-2 lb pork belly or pork shoulder
PORK MARINADE
2 tbs brown sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 tsp vegetable powder
1 1/2 tsp black pepper
3/4-1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp honey
5 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbs vegetable oil
1 stalk of lemongrass (outer leaves removed, only use soft portions of lemongrass, cut off tops and hard/root’y part of lemongrass ends, and minced)
Optional Marinade ingredients:
2 tbs rum or whiskey, 2 minced garlic cloves, half of a small shallot onion.
VEGETABLE SALAD
1 green butter lettuce, turn into medium pieces
Mint (Asian min preferred, rau thơm)
1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch scallions (chopped thinly)
1 Cucumber, thinly sliced in sticks or diagonal slices
1 bag of Vermicelli rice noodles- med or thin round noodles
PICKLED CARROTS / DAIKON (DU CHUA)
See recipe -here-
GARNISH
1 tbs Fried asian shallots
1 tbs Crushed peanuts
Optional garnishes:
Pickled daikon and carrots (Du chua)- see recipe -here-
PREPARATION
1. Mix all marinade ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Thinly cut your pork belly or pork shoulder into medium thin slices (2-3 mm slices) and place into a bowl. Pour in marinade and let marinate for 2-4 hours, or overnight for best results in fridge.
3. Soak your bamboo skewers into cold water for a 10-20 min so they don’t burn on the grill.
4. Thread pork slices onto bamboo skewers. Pierce meet with the skewer through one end of a meat and twist meat around skewer and then secure the end by piercing the meat on the other end of the meat. Make sure to keep a couple inches free/empty of any meat towards top of skewer and several inches to bottom of skewer so you can handle them. Fling off any extra marinade to prevent burning of marinade.
*Don’t throw out the marinade, you can use it to brush on extra sauce mid-grilling, OR you pour the leftover marinade in a pan and bring it to a boil for a few minutes (you can brush this over the meat after they’re done for a nice saucy glaze!
5. Pre-heat grill to 300-400 degrees.
6. Brush a little oil on grill grates, turn down burners to medium heat (not a big flame). Turn off one side of your grill and place skewers on that side and grill until cooked (cooking over direct flames can cause skewers to catch on fire).
While one side is cooking, use the reserved marinade and brush the top side with the basting sauce.
After a minute or two on the grill, flip the skewers and brush the other side of the skewers, and flip occasionally until crisp around the edges, about 5 until golden brown and charred around the edges.