Ingredients
- •4 bone-in pork chops (about 1 inch thick)
- •For lemongrass marinade:
- •3 stalks lemongrass, tender white part only, minced
- •4 shallots, minced
- •4 cloves garlic, minced
- •3 tbsp fish sauce
- •2 tbsp soy sauce
- •2 tbsp honey
- •1 tbsp neutral oil
- •1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
- •For serving:
- •Steamed broken rice (com tam) or jasmine rice
- •Vietnamese pickled carrots and daikon (do chua)
- •Sliced cucumbers
- •Fresh herbs (cilantro, mint, Thai basil)
- •Nuoc cham dipping sauce
- •Fried shallots
Instructions
Blend or pound together lemongrass, shallots, garlic, fish sauce, soy sauce, honey, oil, and black pepper into a coarse paste.
Coat pork chops thoroughly with the marinade. Refrigerate for at least 2 h (overnight is best).
Place marinated chops in vacuum-seal bags in a single layer, scraping in all the marinade.
Seal using vacuum sealer or water displacement.
Preheat sous vide bath to 142°F (61°C).
Submerge bags and cook for 2 h.
When the cook is done, remove chops from bags and pat surfaces dry (leave the bits of lemongrass that cling).
Heat a grill, grill pan, or cast iron skillet to the highest possible heat.
Grill or sear chops for 90 sec per side until deeply charred with blackened spots.
Let rest 3 min.
Plate over broken rice with pickled carrots and daikon alongside.
Add sliced cucumbers and a pile of fresh herbs.
Drizzle with nuoc cham and top with fried shallots.
Notes
- •Mincing the lemongrass finely is critical — large pieces don't release enough flavor in the short marinade
- •The fish sauce + honey combination creates caramelized char marks that taste like street-vendor pork
- •Broken rice (com tam) is the authentic Vietnamese pairing — the stubby grains catch the sauce
- •Nuoc cham takes 5 min to make: fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, garlic, chili, and water