Smoky grilled Vietnamese chicken sausage patties seasoned with garlic, sugar, and fish sauce, served with rice paper, fresh herbs, pickled vegetables, and a sweet and savory dipping sauce for wrapping at the table.
Ingredients
500g ground chicken thigh meat
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
Rice paper wrappers
Lettuce, mint, cilantro, perilla leaves
Pickled daikon and carrot
Dipping sauce: hoisin, crushed peanuts, chili
Bamboo skewers, soaked
Instructions
1Combine ground chicken with garlic, fish sauce, sugar, cornstarch, baking powder, and pepper, then knead vigorously for five minutes until the mixture becomes sticky and elastic.
2Divide the mixture into portions, shape into small sausage cylinders around soaked bamboo skewers, pressing firmly to adhere.
3Grill the skewers over medium-high heat for twelve to fifteen minutes, turning frequently, until charred and cooked through.
4Prepare the dipping sauce by mixing hoisin sauce with crushed peanuts and chili to taste.
5Arrange the grilled sausages on a platter with rice paper wrappers, a herb platter, and pickled vegetables.
6To eat, soften rice paper in water, add lettuce, herbs, pickles, and a grilled sausage, roll up tightly, and dip in the sauce.
Did You Know?
Nem nuong Nha Trang is so famous that the coastal city has streets lined with competing restaurants, each claiming to have the original family recipe. The key to the bouncy texture is the addition of baking powder and vigorous kneading.