Vietnamese Pork Chops

Once in a while (actually more than once in a while), I will use premade marinades, sauces, dressings, etc. I think it's inevitable, especially when moms are so often part of the work force too. I saw this marinade for Vietnamese BBQ during one of my many forays into an Asian supermarket. The ingredients read: lemongrass, paprika, chili, black pepper, cloves, and monosodium glutamate (Gasp! Yes, yes, I know, I know. I don't normally cook with this but I figure once in a while isn't so terrible). It sounded interesting so I decided to give it a try.

I marinated (actually the husband) 8 quick-fry pork chops for a couple of hours in a paste made with the prepared spices and some oil. I grilled them up quickly and served them with nuoc cham and some long beans with crab and shrimp paste.

From top to bottom: pork chops, nuoc cham, long beans






Nuoc Cham

• 2 1/2 tbsp. sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp. water
• 1/4 cup fish sauce
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 thai bird chili, minced (optional) -- I used chili flakes in oil
• 1-2 tbsp. shredded carrot

Mix all ingredients together until sugar is dissolved.

For the long beans, I stir-fried the long beans in garlic, 1 tbsp. crab paste, 1 tbsp. shrimp paste and 2 tbsp. oyster sauce.

What to serve with all of this? Rice, of course! It was an excellent meal :-)