Cook’s notes
While nothing compares with the flavor of meat grilled over glowing charcoal, in the kind of weather when the sun shines one minute and then rain pours without warning, outdoor grilling is out of the question.
We air fried the skewered marinated pork, and the result was spectacular. If you’re wondering if you can use a stovetop grill or cook the pork in the oven, the answer to both is yes. We’re cooked this dish using both methods and, no matter how the meat is grilled, it still comes out delicious.
Adapted from a recipe by Andrea Nguyen in Into the Vietnamese Kitchen.
Air fried lemongrass pork belly
Equipment
- Air fryer
- bamboo skewers
Ingredients
- 450 grams boneless pork belly (about one pound)
Marinade
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 shallot peeled and grated
- 2 stalks lemongrass minced (peel the outer layers and use only the lower portion of the stalks)
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1 ½ tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 ½ tablespoons coconut oil
Dipping sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons lime or lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
- 2 bird’s eye chilies slit and cut up
Instructions
Marinate the pork
- Rinse the pork belly and pat dry with a kitchen towel. Cut into slices a little less than half an inch thick then cut each slice into bite-size pieces.
- Place the pork belly in a bowl, add all the ingredients for the marinade and mix well.
- Transfer the pork to a container, cover and keep in the fridge overnight.
Cook the pork
- Thread the marinated pork with the bamboo skewers.
- Arrange the skewered pork in a single layer on the rack of the air fryer.
- Air fry the pork belly at 180C for 15 minutes.
Make the dipping sauce
- While the pork cooks, mix together all the ingredients for the dipping sauce.
Serve your air fried lemongrass pork belly
- Transfer the cooked pork to a plate and serve with dipping sauce.
Sweet sour fish fillets