Description

Vietnamese sausage is so good you’ll wonder why you haven’t tried sausage this way before. Filled with aromatic spices and with a pillowy texture, these sausage balls are great on their own or fun to put on skewers for street food inspiration.

Ingredients

Scale

Bacon Fat Mixture

3 slices bacon
4 cloves garlic
1 shallot

Annatto Oil (this part is optional)

2 tbsp. avocado or coconut oil
1 tbsp. annatto seeds

Nem Nuong (sausage)

1 lb. ground pork
4 tbsp. cornstarch
3 tbsp. honey or maple syrup
2 tbsp. fish sauce
1 tsp. Chinese five spice powder
1 tbsp. rice cooking wine or sherry

Nuoc Cham (dipping sauce)

1 tbsp. (organic) sugar
3 tbsp warm water
1 tbsp. fresh lime juice
Zest of lime
1 tbsp. fish sauce
1 small red chili (bird’s eye, if you can find it) or another mildly hot chili, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced

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Instructions

Add bacon, garlic and shallot into the food processor and pulse until a bacon paste forms. Set aside and save for later.
Make your annatto oil to add nice color to the Vietnamese Sausage Skewers. This part is totally optional, but if you skip this part, you will still need the oil to be added into the mixture. Start by heating your avocado or coconut oil in a pan on low heat and add the annatto seeds and stir for a few minutes. Once the seeds have turned the oil a bright orange color, turn the oil off. Remove the seeds and save the oil for adding to the pork later. (Be careful, this oil will stain your fingers, countertops and everything so make sure to clean up afterwards!)
Mix your sausage ingredients in the food processor or stand mixer for 10 minutes. This sounds like a LONG time but what we are looking for is a very fine texture here, like pork paté.
Add in the bacon fat mixture and annatto oil and mix for an additional 5 minutes.
Put the meat in the fridge to chill for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, soak your skewers in water.
Skewer your Vietnamese sausage balls. This is also totally optional but let’s face it, meat on a stick is just fun. I’ve never met anyone who said, “Nah, I’d prefer not to eat meat on a stick.” So for what it’s worth, the skewers are an important step.
Set up an area with the meat, your skewers, and a sheet pan or big platter to place your skewers. I like to wear gloves when touching meat. To make this process easier, add a touch of oil to your gloves or hands so the meat doesn’t stick to your hands. Take a spoonful (about 1 tbsp. of meat) into your hands and roll it into a little ball. Continue to do this, rolling into balls, putting onto the skewer, repeat, until you have worked your way through all the meat.
Grill Your Vietnamese Sausage Skewers. Preheat your grill to 450 to 500 degrees. Coat your grill grates with oil so your meat is less likely to stick. Grill your meat about 3 minutes per side, or until you’ve formed char marks, and then it is time to flip. If the meat is not ready to be flipped it will stick to the grates. Your skewers are done once the internal temp hits 145 internal degrees.

Notes

These skewers are delicious on their own but I like to serve them in lettuce wraps paired with this sweet, mildly spicy, umami flavor packed Nuoc Cham sauce.