Monday, July 20, 2009

Favourite Summer Meal - Vietnamese Barbecued Pork


I had such a great day at my parents’ today, having a simple barbecue with family, followed by a pleasant walk in the woods along the St-Lawrence River. Today was the first beautiful summer day since June. If you live on the east coast of Canada or northern east coast of the States, you’ll agree with me that it’s been a very wet summer so far. Even if we’ve been getting a lot of heavy rain with a little bit of hail, I don’t mind it so much. I love the colour of the grass when it’s vibrant green. It’s definitely a downer for those who love to camp or who own cottages up north, but it’s still not impossible to enjoy having picnics or barbecues, as long as you are quick at making a fast run for the closest shelter whenever an abrupt thunderstorm hits your location.

In any case, today was absolutely perfect weather – sunny and warm with a soft breeze. It was time to make our favourite barbecued meat – pork shoulder slices marinated in fish sauce and garlic. I made sure to fully enjoy this great afternoon meal with my family just before I go back to work from my vacation, on Wednesday…..ugh. Vacations go by so fast, especially when you’re having such a great time. To finish off the afternoon, my mother and I enjoy talking over a nice cold beer.


Recipe “au pif”:2 lbs pork shoulder, cut into 2-3 inch slices for skewers or grill net (removed some of the fat if desired)
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 ½ tbsp
fermented fish sauce
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp vegetable oil

In a large salad bowl mix all ingredients with your hands until well incorporated.

Either slide skewers (soaked in water for half an hour, if using wood) through the pork slices or lay the pork slices on a non-stick flat grill net (shown in photo).

Grill for about 20-25 minutes on high-medium flame, until pork is cooked.


Serve with rice vermicelli, fresh lettuce, mint, coriander and
fish sauce dip
*

Serves 4-6 people.

Share and enjoy!