4 ways to knock-up street food

Who said you needed to travel to the back streets of Hanoi or Marrakech to discover real street food? Make your own with these top four recipes

Food & Drink
21 November 2011

Forget trotting off to the street stalls in New Delhi or off to the exotic food markets in the Middle East. Take a look at these top four recipes, taken from Street Food Revolution for some foodie inspiration.

1. Bánh Mì 11’s Imperial BBQ Pork

Bánh Mì 11’s Imperial BBQ Pork takes inspiration from the charcoal-grilled pork that is served with rice vermicelli and fresh herbs (bun’ cha) on the streets of Hanoi’s Old Quarter, but they make it more exciting by adding in the flavours of a marinade. The meat has a sweet taste from being caramelised but there’s also a hint of shallots and spring onions.

Serve hot off the barbecue in a lightly toasted baguette, with carrot, mooli, cucumber and fresh coriander, for a sumptuous daytime snack.

Serves: 1

4 tbsp granulated white sugar
100ml hot water
600g pork shoulder, thinly sliced
2 shallots, finely chopped
3 spring onions, finely chopped
1 lemongrass stalk, minced (optional)
2 large garlic cloves, minced
4 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp pepper
Fresh French baguette
Mayonnaise
Pâté de campagne
1/2 cucumber, sliced into thin slivers
A few sprigs of coriander
Chopped hot chilli, to taste

Heat up a heavy-bottomed saucepan and ensure there’s no water residue in it before you pour in the sugar. Stir the sugar in a circular motion, using a wooden spoon. When the sugar has turned a light brown colour, carefully pour in the hot water and cook on the stove for just 20 seconds. The key is to be swift here and err on the lightly brown side, as the sugar burns quickly and could build up enough smoke in minutes to set off your fire alarm.

In a bowl, combine the pork, shallots, spring onions, lemongrass (if using), garlic, fish sauce, salt and pepper; finally pour in the caramel sauce. Mix well and leave in the fridge for 30 minutes to marinate.

When you are almost ready to cook, thread the pork onto bamboo skewers and put on the barbecue (or under a grill), ideally a charcoal one to give the meat a subtle, smoky aroma. Lightly toast the baguette on the barbecue (or, again, under a grill) and then halve lengthways and spread the lower half with a thin layer of mayonnaise and pâté. Remove the grilled pork from the bamboo skewers onto the baguettes and add cucumber, coriander and some fresh chilli (if you dare). Cover with the top baguette half and you are ready to enjoy your bánh mì!

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