Clay's Kitchen : Nấu Ăn Việt Nam (Vietnamese Recipes)

Nấu Ăn Việt Nam (Vietnamese Recipes)

Bò Lá Lốt (Grilled Beef Kabobs)

½ pound ground beef
2 tablespoon minced fresh lemongrass
1 tablespoon finely chopped shallots or onion
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
1 tablespoon nước mắm (fish sauce)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground turmeric, optional
30 to 40 lá lốt¹
about 10 long bamboo skewers, soaked in water for at least 30 minutes
nước mắm (fish sauce) cham

In a medium bowl, combine the ground beef with the lemongrass, shallots, garlic, fish sauce, oil, sugar, pepper, salt, and turmeric, if using, and mix well. Divide the mixture into generous tablespoons of meat, and shape each portion into a plump little cylinder about 2 inches long. Place a leaf on a cutting board with the veined side down and the stem end toward you, and place a meat portion at the edge nearest you. Roll it up in the leaf and place it, seam side down, on a platter. Preheat the oven to 400°F. To grill the kebabs, thread 3 or 4 rolls onto each skewer, bunching them up near the pointed end, and taking care to pierce each roll through the seam. Place the skewers on the oiled rack of the hot grill and cook until done, 2 to 3 minutes per side, turning once or twice. Transfer to a serving platter and serve hot, warm, or at room temperature with dipping sauce.

¹ lá lốt, ชะพลู (cha plu) in Thai, is a wild pepper leaf, Piper sarmentosum. Sometimes wrongly identified as Piper betle, which doesn't have glossy and tender leaves. The leaves are heart-shaped, light green when young and shiny dark green when mature. The upper side of the leaf is smooth while the underside is somewhat rough. The leaf has a pleasant fragrance and a refreshing taste. I once had it served with laab muu as a wrapper for the minced pork.

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