'Bun Nem Nuong'

'Nem nuong' are Vietnamese grilled pork patties. The ones pictured below I ate at some stall right next to Binh Tay market in Saigon...when I walked past I wasn't hungry, but they looked and smelt so good it would have been foolish not to sample.

I'm glad I did. I honestly don't think I can remember eating nicer pieces grilled pork.

Observe the juicy slow-grilled porky goodness:

I think the pork mix is pretty simple: nice fatty pork, minced garlic, a little salt, sugar and fish sauce. As well as the patties there was some skewered pork (shoulder, I think), which was equally tasty.

This was 'bun nem nuong', the 'bun' meaning they are served with rice vermicelli. You also get a bunch of herbs mixed through, some pickled carrot & diakon, plus roasted peanuts with some nuoc cham drizzled over. It's one delicious plate; Vietnamese food at it's best.

As well as the noodle version you also sometimes see the meatballs served with rice papers, when it's called 'nem nuong cuon'. Then you use the rice papers to roll up chunks of meat along with things like sliced sour star fruit and green banana plus lots of herbs, dip and eat. Funnily enough I actually first ate this in Laos (there's fair bit of Vietnamese food to be found there).... see snap here.

The stall also did fresh-pressed sugar cane juice (that's the beaker of yellow stuff in above shot). Delicious, but it was bit sweet to go with the sweet grilled pork and dipping sauce. My blood sugar was off the chart by time I'd finished.

A beer would work better. I'll know for next time.