This is my take on one of my most-loved Vietnamese dishes: bún chả. The meatballs are juicy, fragrant and full of flavour and are paired with a fresh salad of noodles and plenty of herbs. The nước chấm dressing is sweet, salty, spicy and sour, all at the same time, and ties the dish together in classic Vietnamese fashion. Make sure the pork mince isn’t too lean to avoid dry meatballs. If you don’t have a grill, simply pan-fry the meatballs.

Serves 4 

INGREDIENTS 

Pork meatballs 

500g fatty pork mince 

1 lemongrass stalk, white part only, finely chopped 

3 garlic cloves, finely grated

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce 

2 tbsp caster sugar 

sea salt and white pepper 

Nước chấm dressing 

80ml fish sauce 

80ml rice wine vinegar 

1 tbsp caster sugar 

2 tbsp coconut water or water 

juice of 1 lime 

1 bird’s eye chilli, finely sliced

Rice noodle salad

200g thin vermicelli rice noodles 

6 butter lettuce leaves, torn 

1 carrot, julienned 

2 cucumbers, julienned

2 spring onions, finely sliced 

Vietnamese mint, coriander, mint and perilla leaves, to serve

METHOD

Combine all the ingredients for the meatballs in a bowl, seasoning well, and mix with your hands. Roll into golf ball-sized meatballs, arrange on a plate and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

Meanwhile, make the nước chấm dressing by combining the fish sauce, vinegar, sugar and coconut water or water in a small saucepan. Set over a medium heat and bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat, add the lime juice and chilli and allow to cool. 

Preheat a grill to medium and cook the meatballs for 7–8 minutes, turning until cooked through and slightly charred. Keep warm. 

For the rice noodle salad, cook the noodles according to the directions on the packet, drain and refresh under cold water. 

Arrange the noodles among four serving bowls and top with the remaining salad ingredients. Top with the grilled meatballs and pour over the dressing.

Simple Pleasures by Julia Busuttil Nishimura, published by Plum, $44.99, photography by Armelle Habib.