10 hours Ago By Danielle Alvarez
These delicious skewers are based on moo ping, a popular Thai street food. Pork marinated in lemongrass, garlic and fish sauce, among other things, is threaded onto skewers and basted with coconut milk while it grills. Serve alongside fresh vegetables and mint, and douse with a sweet, spicy and sour vinegar dressing; it’s the stuff of summer dreams.
Ingredients 1 lemongrass stalk 1kg pork neck, cut into 2cm cubes 2 tbsp brown sugar 1 tbsp dark soy sauce 1 tbsp fish sauce 1 tbsp oyster sauce 3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed 1⁄2 tsp ground white pepper salt 200ml coconut milk 2 tbsp white sugar 1⁄2cup white wine vinegar 1⁄4 cup fish sauce 1 tbsp dried Thai or Korean chilli flakes* zest and juice of 1 lime 2 Lebanese cucumbers, cut into wedges 1⁄2 red onion, thinly sliced 2 handfuls fresh mint leaves jasmine rice, steamed Method To prepare the lemongrass stalk, remove and discard (or reserve for broth) the tough outer leaves, revealing a light-yellow core. Crush this tender core with the back of your knife or a strong rolling pin and then mince it quite finely with your knife. Add it to a large mixing bowl.
In the same mixing bowl, add the pork, brown sugar, dark soy sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce, garlic and white pepper and toss to combine. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes but overnight is better. Combine all the vinegar sauce ingredients in a bowl and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
Cover and set aside. Remove the pork from the fridge and thread the pieces onto 10-12 bamboo or metal skewers. Season lightly with salt.
Heat an outdoor or indoor grill to medium-high heat. Place the skewers onto the grill and cook for about 2-3 minutes before turning. Begin basting with the coconut milk.
Cook for a further 2-3 minutes, then just keep turning and basting until you’ve cooked them for about 8-12 minutes in total and you’ve used all the coconut milk. The skewers should be glossy and deeply browned. Drizzle over the vinegar sauce and serve with cucumber, onion, mint and steamed rice.
* Note: Thai chilli flakes are fiery, Korean are milder. If you’re concerned about heat, start with just one teaspoon..
