Vietnamese-style parcels of pork with fresh herbs

4 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
85 grams Shallots; thinly sliced ,
; about
Vegetable or sunflower oil for deep
; frying
1 small Bunc mint and coriander
6 Spring onions; cut into 4cm/1 1/2\"
; lengths and finely
; shredded
2 Red chillies; deseeded and cut
; into very thin
; rings
Hoisin sauce
12 Leaves crisp lettuce; ie iceberg
10 grams Dried porcini or shitake mushrooms; (10 to 15)
3 tablespoons Mirin or sweet sherry
250 grams Minced pork
2 tablespoons Fish sauce; (nam pla)
2 Garlic cloves; finely chopped
1 teaspoon Finely grated fresh root ginger
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons Sunflower or vegetable oil
4 Shallots; very finely chopped

Directions

FOR THE PORK FILLING

1 Make the pork filling in advance. Soak the dried mushrooms in the mirin or sherry and cover with water. Leave for 30-45 minutes, remove the mushrooms and chop very finely, discarding the stalks if you used dried shitake.

2 Let the soaking liquid settle and carefully drain off, leaving any grit in the bowl. Mix the pork, fish sauce, half the garlic, ginger and lots of black pepper and leave for ½ hour.

3 Heat the oil in a wok or wide frying pan on a medium heat and saute the shallots and remaining garlic for a few minutes until softened. Raise the heat to high, add the pork mix and fry for five minutes, breaking up any lumps, until browned.

4 Add the mushrooms and fry for a minute, add their soaking liquid and simmer until about evaporated, to leave a moist mix of pork and mushrooms.

5 Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more fish sauce or a pinch of sugar. Serve cold or reheat just before serving. Heat about 5mm/ ¼" depth of oil in a frying pan over a moderate heat.

6 Add the shallots and fry fairly quickly until golden brown and crisp.

Lift out with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. They can be fried several days in advance and stored in a well-sealed container in the fridge.

7 Shortly before serving pick the leaves off the mint and put in a bowl.

Cut the lower part of the stalks off the coriander, leaving only 3cm/1¼" stalk and all the leaves. Pile into a bowl.

8 Put the fried shallots into a separate bowl and spring onions and chillies into more bowls. The hoisin sauce goes into yet another bowl and placed in the centre of the table.

9 Pile the lettuce leaves high in a bowl (don't worry if a few are torn in half - they'll make slightly smaller parcels).

10 Add a spoonful of fried pork in the centre of a lettuce leaf. Over that add a sprinkling of fried shallots, mint leaves, coriander sprigs, spring onion, chilli if desired and a drizzle of hoisin sauce. The edges of the lettuce leaf are folded over as best you can.

Converted by MC_Buster.

Recipe by: Sophie Grigson's Herbs Converted by MM_Buster v2.0l.

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