Vietnamese Inspired Noodle Salad with Pork Meatballs

Hello Fellow Nom Seekers!

I was holidaying in Vietnam a few months back and I simply fell in love with the cuisine.  I wanted to evoke some of the typical Vietnamese flavours such as the salty depth of the fish sauce, the freshness of the herbs and the chargrilled smokiness of their grilled meats so I free-styled this Noodle Salad with Pork Meatballs in an attempt to recreate such pleasant tastebud memories.  Here it is the end result which was a crowd pleaser at a recent BBQ of mine.




Ingredients:

• 500g pork mince
• 1 small sweet potato (the orange variety)
• 3 medium sized carrots
• half bunch coriander
• quarter bunch of garden mint
• quarter bunch of Vietnamese mint
• 250g pack of cellophane noodles
• 3 spring onions, plus extra for sprinkling on top
• 1 tablespoon of garlic powder
• 6 tablespoon of fish sauce
• salt and pepper to taste
• half an onion
• 3 tablespoon of raw sugar
• 1 beaten egg
• 5 tablespoon of semolina
• 2 - 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 250g of bean sprouts

Method:

1. In the food processor with the chopping blade in situ, chop up the coriander, onion and sweet potato. 
2. Mix this with the pork mince, semonlina, 3 tablespoon of the fish sauce, garlic powder, salt and pepper and egg.  Form meat balls and place in the fridge until ready to cook.
3. Switch to the finest grating blade in your food processor and grate the carrots and spring onion.  Decant this into a big salad bowl.  Pick and tear the garden mint and Vietnamese mint.  Add these to the salad bowl along with the bean sprouts.  
4. In another bowl or saucepan, rehydrate the cellophane noodles by submerging them into boiling water for 2 -3 minutes or as per packet instructions.  Drain and rinse in cold water.  Add this to the salad bowl.  
5. On a BBQ burner or on your kitchen stovetop, heat the oil then fry the meatballs a couple at a time until cooked through.  
6. Toss the meatballs into the salad bowl with the vegetables and noodles.
7. To make the dressing:  mix the remainder 3 tablespoons of fish sauce with the raw sugar.  Pour over salad.  

A little tip to make cleaning up easier:  cook the meatballs in a foil tray on the BBQ.

Until next time, 

Nom Seeker, Glutt