Suon Nuong (Vietnamese BBQ'd pork chops)

Those of us who live in Fort Wayne are lucky to have Saigon Restaurant where they serve up delicious tasting, authentic Vietnamese food at a very reasonable price.  After eating the BBQ pork rib they served me a few weeks ago, I decided I wanted to try making this dish at home.

I recently became the happy owner of an awesome cookbook called Secrets of the Red Lantern. 

This is more than just a cookbook; this is a family's story.  The author, Pauline Nguyen, is the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants to Australia.  Her parents ran a Vietnamese restaurant there and her book is filled with stories from her family's history, including photos from long ago and documents and letters, such as photocopies of their visa applications.  She also shares wonderful recipes from her family's kitchen and I found a recipe that seemed quite similar to the dish I had at Saigon.

This recipe is very easy and delicious!  I'm sure your family would be impressed with the results.  However, if you hate to cook and live in the Fort Wayne area.....  you can enjoy the same results by heading downtown for a meal at Saigon!

Ingredients:

3 lbs thin pork loin chops
1/4 cup oyster sauce
1/4 cup fish sauce
1 T honey
1 T sugar
1 stalk lemon grass, chopped (white part only)
1 bunch scallions, crushed (white part only)
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 cup canola oil

Method:

1.  Mix all ingredients, except for pork chops, in a bowl.

2.  Lightly pound or flatten pork chops.

3.  Place pork chops in a glass dish or one gallon size plastic bag and cover with marinade.  Marinate overnight.

4.  Remove pork chops and grill or broil until done.

How easy was that??!!!  These pork chops are traditionally served with Vietnamese dipping sauce and garnished with thinly sliced bird chilies and cilantro.  I served mine with rice, grated carrot, and thinly sliced cucumbers. 

If you'd like to make the dipping sauce, here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

3 T fish sauce
3 T rice vinegar
2 T sugar
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 bird's-eye chilies, sliced
2 T freshly squeezed lime juice

Mix all ingredients well, until sugar dissolves.