DRY GARLIC-LEMONGRASS PORK BITES

I found this Vietnamese Recipe in YouTube.  Tried it  and it came out very delicious!  Hubby and daughter loved it!  Even my 6 and 2 ½ year-old nephews loved them too.  Very kid friendly dish, pwede siyang pambaon sa school, instead of Nuggets or Hotdogs, this is healthier.   Aside from pork, you can use boneless chicken breast or any other parts you would want.  I made some changes in the recipe to further enhance its flavor.  Quick, easy and economical recipe.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:  (my version of  the recipe)

1 kg. Lean Pork or Kasim (cut into bite-size)

3  tbsp Garlic Salt (I don’t have garlic salt,  so instead I used  1 1/2  tbsp garlic powder & 1 1/2 tbsp iodized salt)

4 tbsp white sugar

1  tsp Pepper (could use more pepper)

5 tbsps Minced Lemongrass 

2 egg (or 3 eggs for more coating)

6-7   tbsps All Purpose Flour (if you added 1 more egg, add a bit more of this)

2/3 cups Japanese Bread Crumbs (add more if needed)

6 cloves Minced Garlic

1 to 1 ½  cups  cooking oil

Ingredients:  (this is the original recipe)

1 lb. Lean Pork or Kasim (cut into bite-size)

1 tbsp Garlic Salt

1 ½ tbsp white sugar

½ tsp Pepper

2 tbsps Minced Lemongrass

1 egg

3 tbss All Purpose Flour

1/3 cups Japanese Bread Crumbs

3 cloves Minced Garlic

1 to 1 ½  cups  cooking oil

Procedure:

Combine sugar, garlic salt & ground pepper. Mix well. Pour over the pork the salt mixture. And mix to coat the meat evenly.  Add in half of the minced  lemongrass, mixwell again…   then beat the egg very well, then add it to the pork.    Then add the flour, and mix well, making sure the pork is evenly coated with flour.  Then add the Japanese bread crumbs and mix well.

Meanwhile,  put about 1 cup cooking in a deep pan, turn heat to medium-high heat, and have redy a plate with paper towels.  When the oil is ready, place pork in the pan, separate bites if they stick together.  Move the pork about in the oil to ensure even frying.  Don’t overload the pan.  Doing this inbatches give you more control to fry  them evenly.   An aluminum strainer is excellent for removing the cooked bites once they turngolden brown.  Set aside fried pork bites.

In a separate pan, put some vegetable oil, turn heat to medium-low and   sauté remaining minced lemongrass, stir well to brown lemongrass.  Add the garlic and continue until browned, then put into a small bowl and set aside.

Put the fried pork bites in a plate, and top it with  fried garlic-lemongrass.  Enjoy!

Quick tip for mincing the lemongrass:

Crushing the lemongrass speeds up the mincing process.  Notice how the splintered stalks fall apart as they are being chopped.

Note :  You may watch the Video below to see the actually process of cooking this dish.