Jez’s Vietnamese Noodle Soup with Pork Balls
I so want to have a food truck.
Ever since I saw the first one in California about 10 years ago I have longed to be 40, maybe 45, years younger and head off into the sunset with my Airstream, free to pitch up here and there doing great food with local produce, pickles, relishes and crusty artisan bread. !
Since it doesn’t look like that fantasy will become a reality for this aged-hippy, I’ve been encouraging my students to consider it as an option, and several have with considerable success.
With mince still in the news I thought I would write about the aforementioned Jez this week.
Aka The Bowler, he was a spirited student who did the 12-week Certificate Course at Ballymaloe Cookery School in April 2006 is part of a burgeoning street food scene of mobile food vendors who either can’t afford, or make a lifestyle choice, not to move into bricks and mortar.
Instead they sell everything from Mexican tostadas to Asian street food, grass fed burgers, great hot dogs with foraged greens, homemade ices and popsicles to popovers, all made with great ingredients.
Jez picked up his astro-turf covered food truck on eBay.
He nicknamed it the ‘Lawn Ranger’ and has been rolling up at summer festivals and music events and various markets all over the UK ever since. Meatballs, the universal comfort food, are his speciality. He first came across the concept in LA and he’s been serving classic combinations, including pork and fennel meatballs and a myriad of variations on the theme to rave reviews.
Think Sweaty Balls — so hot they make you sweat — and the Popeye — packed with spinach and beef chuck. Jez has great fun creating unusual and pun-laden recipes, such as Bjorn Balls (a Scandinavian take on a classic meatball) and Game Balls (made with pheasant and bacon). And it’s not all meat — fish lovers adore his recipes for wasabi salmon and sesame seed balls and tuna and ginger balls, and veggies queue around the block for brown rice and lentil balls and bean balls.
As Grazia Magazine recently wrote, “Who knew meatballs could be so hip?” Meatballs have been buzzing on the US street food scene for several years now — so it was only a matter of time before they reached these islands. They are brilliantly versatile, easy and fun to make, and an ace way to use up odds and ends from the fridge.
I can’t imagine how Jez got time to write his first cook book — The Bowlers Meat Ball book but he did and it’s full of great advice and exciting recipes for meatballs, fish balls and veggie balls, gorgeous, inexpensive, gutsy food.
Whoever thought meat balls could be so popular and that truck food could be such an exciting scene — a million miles from the greasy burger vans of yore.
* Blog: darinasblog.cookingisfun.ie
Preparation time 10 minutes, cooking time none.
Makes 200 ml
This sauce is a staple in Vietnam.
Primarily a dipping sauce for just about everything, it balances the sweet, sour, salty and spicy elements that make Asian cooking so good and gives a nice flavour to the pork balls used in Vietnamese Noodle Soup.
125ml (4floz) water
50g (2oz) granulated sugar
3 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 small garlic cloves
2 red Thai chillies, seeds removed and finely chopped
½ tsp salt
3 tbsp fish sauce
Put the water, sugar, lime juice and vinegar into a bowl and stir to dissolve the sugar.
Taste to check the balance of sweet and sour, making adjustments if necessary.
Combine the garlic, chillies and salt, using a pestle and mortar to create a smooth paste.
Mix the garlic paste with the liquid in the bowl and add the fish sauce.
Stir and taste again, checking the balance of sour, sweet, salt and spice.
Preparation time 40 minutes, cooking time one hour.
Serves 4-6
I went to Vietnam on my honeymoon and couldn’t move for pork balls, especially in soups, skewers and grilled.
Here I have dropped some into a fairly traditional Vietnamese noodle soup that would be eaten day, night and even for breakfast.
The balls:
1 large free-range egg
2 tbsp plain flour
500g pork shoulder, minced
2 spring onions, finely sliced
1 tbsp chopped coriander
2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
3 tbsp Nuoc Cham (see recipe on left)
2 tbsp olive oil
2.5 litres chicken stock
1 stick of cinnamon
4 spring onions, sliced lengthways
1 x 5cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 star anise
200–300g rice vermicelli noodles (allow 50g dried weight per person)
1 red Thai chilli, seeds removed and sliced
2 tbsp soy sauce
3 shallots, thinly sliced
150g beansprouts, blanched
Beat the egg with the plain flour in a large mixing bowl.
Add the minced pork, spring onions, coriander, ginger and Nuoc Cham and mix with your hands until well combined.
Heat a small frying pan over a high heat. Break off a small amount of the mixture, flatten between your fingers and fry until cooked.
Taste to check the seasoning and add more if necessary. Form the mixture into 16–18 balls each 4cm in diameter, packing each one firmly.
Heat the oil in a heavy-based frying pan and add the balls in batches so as not to overcrowd the pan.
Brown the balls for three minutes on each side then remove them from the pan and set aside.
In a large pan, add the chicken stock, cinnamon, spring onions, fresh ginger, sugar, salt, fish sauce and star anise, then bring to the boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer for 40 minutes to let the flavours infuse.
Strain the broth into another pan and taste for flavour – you can add a little Nuoc Cham if it needs a boost.
Turn the heat back on, drop in the pork balls and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the balls are cooked through.
Meanwhile, drop the noodles into a pan of boiling water and cook for two minutes, then drain, refresh under cold water and drain again.
Pour the soy sauce into a little dish and add the sliced chilli.
Drop the beansprouts into a saucepan of boiling water. Return to the boil and cook for one minute, then drain.
Refresh in ice cold water and drain again.
Divide the noodles, shallots and beansprouts between your serving bowls, then pour over the broth and balls and garnish with coriander, basil and a wedge of lime.
Serve the chilli soy sauce on the side to mix in if you require an extra flavour kick.
Preparation time 20 minutes, cooking time 25 minutes.
Serves 4–6
I love these balls because you can really taste the green chilli in them — it adds a great freshness.
I use chicken thighs here because they have much more flavour and the result is a lot moister compared to using breast meat, which can sometimes dry out too quickly.
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
8 fresh green chillies, seeds removed, finely chopped
1 x 4cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
20 cashew nuts
3 tbsp finely chopped coriander, plus extra leaves to garnish
2 free-range eggs
2 tbsp milk
750g (1½ lbs + 2oz) boneless chicken thighs, minced
2 tsp Garam Masala
150g (5oz) breadcrumbs
2 tsp salt, freshly ground black pepper
Lime wedges, to serve
Preheat the oven to 220C (425F), Gas Mark 7 and line a large baking tray with non-stick baking parchment.
Heat the oil in a large heavy-based pan. Add the onion and cook on a low heat for two minutes.
Add the garlic, chillies, ginger and cashew nuts and cook on a low heat for three more minutes, or until the onion is translucent.
Remove from the heat, allow to cool a little, then put into a food processor with the coriander and blitz to a rough paste.
You might have to add a splash of olive oil or water to help it blend properly.
Beat the eggs with the milk in a large bowl, then add the paste, minced chicken, garam masala, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper, and mix well.
Heat a small frying pan over a high heat. Break off a small amount of the mixture, flatten between your fingers and fry until cooked.
Taste to check the seasoning and add more salt and spices if necessary.
Form the mixture into 20–22 meatballs about 5cm in diameter, packing each one firmly, and place them on the prepared baking tray.
Bake for 15–18 minutes, turning the tray halfway through — the balls should begin to brown on the top.
Keep an eye on them to make sure that they don’t get burnt underneath.
Find of the Week: The Courgette and Ginger Jam I discovered in the Skibbereen Farmers Market is made on Loughbeg Farm near Schull, West Cork by Walter and Josphine Ryan-Purcell — it’s a delicious spread that was so good on my morning toast.
It’s also yummy with goat’s cheese, with black pudding or in a sponge cake.
Walter and Josephine Ryan-Purcell also run a residential course, ‘The Good Life, in April ’ at Loughbeg Farm.
Live for a week on a small working farm in West Cork and learn how to grow vegetables, milk goats, make cheese, yoghurt, ice cream, chutneys, jams, and raise pigs, sheep, cattle, poultry, and look after horses. See www.loughbegfarm.com for details — sounds idyllic. Tel: 086-8197188; email: walter@localcampus.com
The Food Writing Course with Clarissa Hyman takes place on Saturday, Feb 23, 9.30am to 5pm at Ballymaloe Cookery School, €175, lunch included.
Clarissa Hyman is a multi-award winning writer and author. Phone 021-4646785 or online www.cookingisfun.ie
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