Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Vietnamese Caramelized Grilled Pork and Chive Salad


This dish represents my efforts in multitasking. Over at I Heart Cooking Clubs, we are cooking Mark Bittman's recipes each week. While looking for my next adventure with Mark Bittman, I found this recipe for Vietnamese Caramelized Grilled Pork and thought it would be perfect for Joanne's Regional Recipes roundup this month, which is featuring the cuisine of Vietnam. Wanting a unique and different side dish to go along with the pork, I chose Mark Bittman's Chive Salad which not only sounded delicious, but is also a perfect recipe to share with Deb over at Kahakai Kitchen for her weekly Souper Sundays roundup and also with Reeni at Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice for her Side Dish Showdown. If only I could multitask some of my household chores in this manner.....

I ran to the grocery store, stocked up on everything I needed to make both recipes and returned home. I tend to get rather excited when I have plans to try something new and this was no exception. However, once I got started I realized that the Vietnamese Caramelized Grilled Pork began with a REAL CARAMEL SAUCE. (NOTE: Caramel sauce is something I have not yet perfected, in fact it scares me.) Knee deep into this recipe I become quite flustered. Not only was I fighting with a caramel sauce but the the doorbell and phone were ringing at the same time. Does anybody know why that only happens at dinnertime? Are they in sync or something? Anyway, my version of Vietnamese Caramelized Grilled Pork puts a whole new spin on caramelized. Let's just say that everything was REALLY caramelized. Yep, caramelized....that's my story and I'm sticking with it! Can you tell by the very caramelized shallots in the picture? Not to say that it wasn't good, because it was....BUT in the right hands, this dish has major potential.

Vietnamese Caramelized Grilled Pork

Adapted from Mark Bittman's Kitchen Express
Pound boneless pork chops to quarter-inch thickness and heat the grill or broiler. In a small, heavy saucepan, combine half a cup of sugar with two tablespoons of water and stir with some grated ginger to make a paste; cook, undisturbed, over medium heat until it turns golden. Add a couple of finely diced shallots, a tablespoon each fresh lime juice and fish sauce, and a pinch of salt (at this point the caramel will harden); continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the caramel dissolves and the shallots are soft, about two minutes. Put the pork on the grill and brush with sauce, turning frequently until the chops are just cooked through.

This chive salad went perfectly with the pork and after eyeballing it in my copy of Kitchen Express, I was very happy to finally try it. Chives are probably my favorite herb and they really shine in this simple salad. A super duper light dressing is made from equal parts soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, water, a touch of sesame oil and pinch of sugar. It is a light and flavorful salad that would be a great side dish to any Asian-inspired meal.

Chive Salad
Adapated from Mark Bittman's Kitchen Express
In a large salad bowl, whisk together equal parts soy sauce, water, and rice wine vinegar. Add a few drops of sesame oil and a pinch of sugar. Roughly chop a couple of bunches of chives and add them to the bowl along with some chopped romaine or iceberg lettuce. Toss well and serve.

I am submitting the Vietnamese Caramelized Grilled Pork to Joanne for Regional Recipes and also to I Heart Cooking Clubs for this week's Potluck Theme.


I am submitting this unique and fun chive salad to both Deb @ Kahakai Kitchen for her weekly Souper Sundays roundup and also to Reeni of Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice for her monthly Side Dish Showdown.

In the meantime, I'm going to practice how to caramelize - LOL!

27 comments:

  1. Wow, looks scrumptious to me!

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  2. Wow, it involves actual caramel sauce? I am normally scared of this kind of thing too, but I recently made caramel sauce for the first time and it came out pretty ok. I was proud of myself. It wasn't as hard as I thought.
    *kisses* HH

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  3. Grilled and caramelized are two words that spell deliciousness for me.

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  4. Kim this is such a wonderful post! The pictures look so delish!

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  5. Caramel sauce is very scary. I think your finished dish looks lovely. I am gong to have to tag that salad to make--the combo of the chives and that dressing sound wonderful.

    Thanks for sending it to Souper Sundays--great job on the multi=tasking. ;-)

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  6. This looks fabulous! The color on the pork is divine!!

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  7. Thanks so much for this awesome submission Kim! I haven't quite mastered caramelizing either...it took me two tries to get the caramel sauce for the tofu right. so I feel your pain.

    The finished dish looks delicious!

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  8. The grilled pork looks amazing-love it. I ilike teh idea of the chive salad too. I have plenty of fresh chives in the herb bed and this looks a great way to use them.

    I really enjoy your recipes that you highlight. They always look so good.

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  9. Your pork looks delicious! I'm sorry you had trouble with it. The chive salad looks totally delicious and will be a great addition to the showdown. They look like they go so well together!

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  10. Blackened...caramelized...whatever. : ) I think that it all looks amazing. I haven't even joined the first cooking club or round up. You're amazing!

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  11. Great pork recipe! And whether you had trouble or not, it sure turned out beautifully.
    The chive salad is really interesting. Can't wait to try it!

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  12. I just got a bunch of pork chops--perfect!

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  13. You do know how to cook a pork dish! All that sweetened, slightly-blackened flavors invite me. Love the simple chive salad.
    P.S. Don't answer the phone. I don't. That's why answering machiens were invented.

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  14. Multitasking indeed! Very clever of you to blend all of these together! I'll definitely have to try the chive salad...I love chives and green onions.

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  15. A post that makes me get hungry when I just finished lunch is a good post indeed. :)

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  16. Wow! You are the Multitasking Queen. I've got to try that chive salad. I have about three varieties of chives and don't use them near enough.

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  17. I sure love Vietnamese flavors! The grilled pork looks fabulous, Kim!

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  18. Kim, I saw your comment on my blog about maybe finding guava paste in the cheese shop in the city.... If you email me at fvknapp@mac.com with your address, I will send a package of guava paste.

    Take care.
    Velva

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  19. I love pork!!!This looks amazing,Kim!The flavors are wonderful.

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  20. I think your caramelized pork looks great, and you have nothing to be afraid of. It does look like you have been cooking up a storm. I can't imagine how busy you must be with this and kids and all.

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  21. That pork looks fantastic! Very nice presentation.

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  22. You have a talent....everything you make looks fabulous!

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  23. Kim, these looks really good. I need to conquer my fear of caramel sauce. I made it once, and did fine....but it's been a while. Great job!

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  24. The caramelized pork looks great, like to try it sometime....but caramel sauce scares me to!

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  25. you had me at Caramelized! this looks delish. I've never made my own caramel sauce...not sure if I want to LOL

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  26. this looks so tasty. I can't wait to make the chive salad.
    Mimi

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