Bo nuong la lot draws people in with the smell of betel leaf charring against juicy beef. Rolled into rice paper with fresh herbs is the way to eat it. The difficulty is keeping the filling from drying out and the leaves from tearing on the grill.
Pork fat is blanched, finely diced and mixed into the filling to keep it juicy. Brushing a layer of oil over the skewers before they go on the fire keeps the betel leaves from tearing or scorching.
This batch weighs about 1.2kg, at roughly 191 calories per 100g.
Method
Wash the pork fat in lightly salted water and rinse it several times. Bring a pot of water to a boil, blanch the fat for about 5 minutes, then lift it out, dice it finely and set it aside.
Wash, peel and finely chop the shallot, garlic, lemongrass and spring onion roots, keeping each one separate. Chop the spring onion. Peel the pineapple and mince 200g for the dipping sauce. Wash the betel leaves, pat them dry and finely chop 30g for the filling. Roast the peanuts and pound them medium fine.
Heat the oil in a pan, fry 1 tablespoon minced garlic until lightly golden, then turn off the heat and separate the oil from the garlic. Pour the garlic oil over the chopped spring onion to make spring onion oil.
Put 600g ground beef in a large bowl and add 8g seasoning powder, 1/2 teaspoon MSG, 20g oyster sauce, 15g soy sauce, 5.4g kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 1 tablespoon shallot, 1/2 tablespoon garlic, 1 tablespoon minced spring onion root, 1 tablespoon fried garlic, 1/2 teaspoon five spice powder, 1 teaspoon pepper, 2 teaspoons minced lemongrass, 1 teaspoon cooking oil, 30g finely chopped betel leaf, the diced pork fat and 2 teaspoons roasted peanuts. Mix thoroughly so it takes the seasoning.
Lay a betel leaf rough side up, add just enough filling, roll it into a cylinder and fix it with the leaf stem or a skewer.
Grill over charcoal at medium heat. Brush a layer of cooking oil over the skewers first so the meat does not dry out and the leaves do not tear. Turn them constantly, since beef cooks quickly.
Mix the sweet and sour fish sauce: 75 to 80g fish sauce, 8 teaspoons water, 4 teaspoons kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 1 teaspoon lime juice, 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic and 1/2 teaspoon minced chili. Stir until dissolved.
Arrange the skewers on a tray with the fresh herbs, spoon over the spring onion oil, scatter with the pounded peanuts and roll them in rice paper to eat.
Tips
Finely diced pork fat mixed into the filling is what keeps the meat from drying out on the grill.
Brushing oil over the skewers before grilling keeps the betel leaves whole and the meat juicy.
Roll the leaves with the dark green side facing out, which gives the best color off the grill.
Choose medium mature betel leaves, broad and moderately thick, since very young leaves tear when rolled.
Turn the skewers constantly over the coals, since beef cooks fast and dries out if it sits on one side.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.