← Nouns Cooking · Vietnamese

Ingredients

• 450 g raw prawns, peeled and deveined, patted very dry
• 100 g fatty pork mince
• 1 clove Garlic, minced
• 1 Shallot, minced
• 1 tsp Fish sauce
• 1 tsp Sugar
• ½ tsp Salt
• ½ tsp White pepper
• 1 tsp Tapioca starch
• 2 tbsp oil, plus extra for hands and brushing
• 4 pieces of sugarcane, 10 cm long (or 8 lemongrass stalks), each split into quarters
• 1 soft lettuce, to serve
• 1 handful Mint
• 8 sheets Rice paper wrappers (optional)

Method

1. Roughly chop the prawns, then blitz them in a food processor with the pork, garlic, shallot, fish sauce, sugar, salt, pepper, tapioca starch and 1 tsp oil until you have a sticky, smooth paste. Chill for 15 min so it is easier to shape.
2. Oil your hands. Take about 40 g of paste, flatten it in your palm, and press it around the middle of a sugarcane stick into an even sausage, leaving both ends bare. Repeat.
3. Steam the skewers for 5 min until the paste turns pink and firm. This step is optional but keeps them juicy.
4. Brush with oil and grill on a barbecue or griddle pan over medium heat for 5–6 min, turning, until golden and lightly charred all over.
5. Serve hot with lettuce, herbs, rice paper for wrapping and nước chấm or peanut sauce for dipping.

Tips

• Prawns are shellfish; check for allergies.
• Tinned sugarcane sticks from Asian grocers work well; the paste grips them better if you pat them dry first.

Sources

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

Delightful Plate Vicky Pham Wok and Kin