Vietnamese Pork Belly Lettuce Wraps
Gorgeously golden, marinated Vietnamese pork belly served with salad in lettuce wraps.
Ingredients
Pork Belly
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 inch ginger, minced
- 1/2 tbsp palm sugar
- 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 500g pork belly, diced
Lettuce Wraps
- Large lettuce leaves
- 1 large carrot, grated
- 1 green cucumber, grated
- 1 large red chilly, finely sliced
- Fresh coriander
- Crispy fried shallots
Instructions
- Toss together the garlic, ginger, palm sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce and pork belly, and set aside to marinate for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 220C and once hot, spread the pork belly onto a baking tray in a single layer. Bake for 30 minutes in the hot oven, tossing the pork in the tray halfway through to help cook evenly.
- Once the pork is cooked, serve in lettuce wraps with carrots, cucumber, chillies, coriander and crispy fried shallots.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 399Total Fat: 27gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 105mgSodium: 744mgCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: 1gSugar: 3gProtein: 30g
Please note, this nutrition information is to be used as a guide only. Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.
Vietnamese Pork Belly Lettuce Wraps Recipe
I eat a lot of pork belly. There’s just something about the richness of pork belly that sings to my soul. And so of course I’m always looking for new, tasty ways to incorporate it into my dinners. This weekend I decided on Vietnamese pork belly lettuce wraps. Gorgeously golden marinated pork wrapped in lettuce with fresh salad, and crispy fried shallots. Insanely tasty and delicious! But you know me, I am crazy about salads.
But these Vietnamese pork belly lettuce wraps are like tacos with a twist- and we all know I love tacos even more than I love salad! Though these wraps can and definitely do stand on their own without much fuss needed. The marinade is simple but effective, and the richness of the pork belly pulls together all the flavours into an almost poetic bite.
This recipe again draws on my culinary influences growing up in Australia. When I lived in Brisbane, I used to visit the most delightful Viet street food stall for my lunch for my Friday treat each week. It was here that I fell in love with the fresh but complex flavours of Vietnamese cuisine. My choices varied between Nem Nuong (Vietnamese Pork Meatballs) or Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls. In fact, I still eat rice paper rolls a few times a week – though homemade of course. They’re an easy dinner option on busy days. And we all know how busy days can be nowadays!
My final note on this recipe is that it may seem a little long in the oven to cook the pork belly. But this is intentional. This heat and time will allow the fat to render, and the pork to gain a crispness and the sugars to caramelise for maximum flavour. You want the colours to be dark, golden and caramelised. This caramelisation is where the marinade truly comes to full-flavoured life.
