I made these a little while ago, but thought they were still worth posting! I had some leftover lemongrass in my fridge after cooking I-can’t-remember-what, and was dying to try out the tamarind paste I’d just bought. I did a bit of googling and created the recipe below as an amalgamation of what I found!
You will need to start this recipe 1 day ahead.
1 stick lemongrass, roughly chopped
4cm piece ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
4 coriander roots, chopped
2 tbsp smooth tamarind paste*
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tsp brown sugar
1kg pork fillet, diced into 4cm cubes
4 wooden skewers
1/2 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1/2 bunch fresh mint, finely chopped
1/2 bunch fresh coriander, roughly chopped
100g cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/2 red onion, finely sliced
1/2 red capsicum, finely sliced
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce, plus extra to serve
2cm piece ginger, finely grated
1/4 cup granulated peanuts
- Using either a pestle and mortar or food processor, grind together lemongrass, ginger, garlic and coriander roots. Add the tamarind, fish sauce and brown sugar and continue mixing until you have a smooth paste.
- Pour marinade over pork and cover. Leave to marinade overnight. Soak skewers in water for a few hours or overnight to prevent them burning.
- When you are ready to cook, preheat top oven element.
- Once pork is ready, thread pieces evenly onto skewers. Cook under a hot grill for 5 minutes either side, or until beginning to char. Alternatively, you can cook these on the BBQ. Serve warm with salad and extra sweet chilli sauce.
- For salad, combine parsley, mint, coriander, tomatoes, red onion and capsicum in a bowl. Whisk together lemon juice, sweet chilli and ginger and pour over salad. Transfer to a plate and scatter with peanuts.
Serves 2
*Tamarind paste differs from tamarind pulp as it comes pre-prepared. Both are available from Asian grocers. If using tamarind pulp, dissolve 30g in 50ml hot water and strain, discarding solids.
