← Nouns Cooking · Vietnamese

Ingredients

• 350 g Minced beef
• 100 g fatty pork mince
• 2 lemongrass stalks, tender part finely minced
• 1 Shallot, minced
• 2 cloves Garlic, minced
• 2 tsp Fish sauce
• 1 tbsp Oyster sauce
• ½ tsp Sugar
• ¼ tsp Chinese five-spice
• ¼ tsp Black pepper
• 30 lá lốt leaves, washed and patted dry
• 2 tbsp oil, for brushing
• 3 tbsp oil, for the scallion oil
• 3 Spring onion, thinly sliced
• 40 g roasted peanuts, crushed
• 200 g rice vermicelli, cooked (optional)
• 1 soft lettuce and herbs
• 3 tbsp fish sauce, for nước chấm
• 2 tbsp sugar, for nước chấm
• 1 Lime, juiced
• 90 ml warm water
• 1 Bird's eye chilli, minced

Method

1. Mix the beef, pork, lemongrass, shallot, garlic, fish sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, five-spice and pepper well and leave for 15 min.
2. Lay a leaf shiny side down with the stem towards you. Put a heaped teaspoon of filling across the stem end, roll up firmly into a little cigar and set it seam side down. Repeat, then thread the rolls snugly onto skewers.
3. Stir the fish sauce, sugar, lime juice, water and chilli together for the nước chấm.
4. Brush the rolls with oil and grill over medium-high heat (barbecue, griddle or frying pan) for 8–10 min, turning, until the leaves are blistered and the filling is cooked through.
5. Heat the scallion oil until shimmering and pour it over the spring onion. Spoon it over the hot rolls, scatter with peanuts and serve with noodles, lettuce, herbs and nước chấm.

Tips

• Lá lốt (wild betel leaf) is sold in Vietnamese and Thai grocers; large grape vine leaves or shiso are the closest stand-ins.
• Contains peanuts. Use gluten-free oyster sauce to make it gluten-free.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Delightful Plate Vicky Pham