Vietnamese Meat Ball Salad (Bún chả)

February 14, 2020February 14, 2020 by edaciousone In mains, salad 1 Comment

Technically, this dish isnt Bún chả. There are neither noodles (the Bún) nor a single slice of pork belly in sight. It does however, have grilled meatballs, and the dish is a low carb variation of the original, and just as delish. I’ve replaced the noodles with copious amounts of salad and herbs, and drizzled it liberally with Nước chấm, a sweet and tangy dip commonly found in Vietnamese restaurants.

Ingredients

Pork meatballs

• 500g pork mince
• 4 tsp fish sauce
• 5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 3 stalks spring onion, finely chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground pepper
• 3 tsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp corn flour (for binding the meat)

For frying

• 2 tbsp cooking oil

Salad

• Butter lettuce
• Julienned carrots and cucumber
• handful of Vietnamese mint, peppermint, bean sprouts or spring onion

Dipping sauce (Nuoc cham)

• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 3-6 tsp caster sugar (to taste – I like my sauce on the sweeter side)
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tsp chopped chilli (de-seeded if you prefer it mild)
• 2 stalks coriander, finely chopped
• 6 tbsp warm water
• 1 tsp lime juice
• 1/2 tsp vinegar

Method

1. Place all ingredients for pork meatballs in a bowl and mix well.
2. Shape into 6 squash ball sized patties and flatten slightly
3. Pre heat non stick pan and add oil
4. Place patties in pan (3 at a time if your pan is small to prevent overcrowding) and cook on medium heat for 3 mins on each side
5. Leave to rest for 5 mins before slicing into thin strips
6. Mix all the ingredients for the dipping sauce and stir till sugar dissolves
7. Serve meatballs with salad and nuoc cham