Vietnamese Pork Meatballs in Lettuce Cups

posted on August 12, 2012 by Cate
7 comments »

Here’s a fun, quick little recipe using those Vietnamese pork meatballs I posted last week.  The traditional recipe includes rice noodles in these little lettuce cups, but I decided to keep things simple… and low carb for those of you who are interested in that sort of thing.

Little lettuce leaves are topped with springy pork meatballs infused with lemongrass and all other sorts of goodness, sweet and sour pickled carrots and daikon, and sprigs of fresh cilantro.  Wrap this little number up and plop it into that hot, sour, salty and sweet Vietnamese everyday dipping sauce, nuoc cham.

Again, I kept this simple, but feel free to add little piles of cooked rice vermicelli or other fresh herbs like mint, Thai basil or green onion.  They pork meatballs are already super flavorful on their own, but adding extra fresh herbs is rarely a bad idea.

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Vietnamese Pork Meatballs in Lettuce Cups

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

* about 10-12 small, cup shaped lettuce leaves
* one batch Vietnamese pork meatballs
* do chua, or small handfull shredded carrots
* sprigs fresh cilantro (note: you can also add mint or Thai basil leaves and/or chopped green onion)
* nuoc cham for dipping

Directions:

Place the lettuce cups on a large platter or divided among several large plates. Place two meatballs on each cup, then adds some do chua and a sprig or two of fresh cilantro. Diners wrap up the lettuce like a little wrap or taco and dip into the nuoc cham.

posted in Appetizers, Meat, Recipes, Vietnam
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7 Responses to “Vietnamese Pork Meatballs in Lettuce Cups”

  1. #
    1
    Debs @ The Spanish Wok — August 17, 2012 at 8:33 am

    Nice idea, we often have char siu pork in lettuce cups, so easy and always impressive.

    Reply

  2. #
    2
    Beth — August 19, 2012 at 4:06 pm

    I made this exactly as written and just LOVED it! I've never had Do Chua or Nuoc Cham before and was delighted to be introduced to these new taste treats! Thanks so much for posting this!

    Reply

    • CATE — August 21st, 2012 @ 3:49 am

      Beth- comments like this always make my day! So glad you tried and liked them :)

      Reply

  3. #
    3
    Sara — August 21, 2012 at 1:17 am

    Oooh, this looks SO good! Love meatballs – so much fun – and this dish just looks totally delicious!

    Reply

    • CATE — August 21st, 2012 @ 3:49 am

      Thanks Sara!

      Reply

  4. #
    4
    marla — February 25, 2013 at 1:04 am

    Love this recipe! Will be linking back to this in my upcoming post :)

    Reply

    • Cate — February 25th, 2013 @ 7:24 am

      Thanks as always for the links Marla :)

      Reply

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