Nem Nuong Pan de Sliders
Heart wants: Sliders Tummy wants: Savoury
My husband and I are big fans of nem nuong, a grilled sausage we often get in our bánh mì (Vietnamese sandwiches).
Over the last week, my husband has been asking me to make nem nuong because he has been craving for it.
The process of making nem nuong was actually easier than I thought it would be. The key is to get the right kind of meat...that is, fatty meat. The fat makes these little beauties come out wonderfully moist and juicy.
I made this on St Patrick’s weekend, so I made my nem nuong green. It was also raining the day I made this, so instead of cooking it over the bbq, I used our air fryer. If you don’t have an air fryer or bbq, you can use an oven or you can deep fry.
You have a few options with the bread. Traditionally, Vietnamese baguettes are used to make bánh mì. These baguettes are crunchy and flaky. You can also use brioche buns with then make your sandwich soft and sweet.
However, as we were making this, my dad came around with a big bag of pandesal. Pandesal is a soft, airy and slightly sweet Filipino bread roll with a bit of a crispy crust. It is one of my favourite kinds of bread because it brings back childhood memories of breakfast whilst on holiday in the Philippines. My grandmother used to get these fresh. We would dunk the warm pandesal into steaming hot coffee and eat it as we chatted.
In terms of size, one pandesal is about the size of a dinner roll so I thought of making what I like to call Pan de Sliders.
This time around, our trio of Pan de Sliders comprised of my take on bánh mì, cheese & garlic and ‘Filipino fusion’ with chicharon (crispy pork crackling) and ensaladang talong (eggplant salad).
Today’s post will be focused on how to make the nem nuong and bánh mì Pan de Sliders. In the next few weeks, I will be posting separately on how to make chicharon and ensaladang talong so watch this space!
Nem Nuong Pan de Sliders
Ingredients
Nem Nuong Makes 18-20 sausages 5 spring onions 3 cloves garlic 500 grams minced pork belly 1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce 2 tablespoons sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon pepper 2 tablespoons maple syrup 1 teaspoon molasses A pinch of cinnamon Baking paper
Bánh mì 1 carrot, peeled and shredded 4 tablespoons rice vinegar 1 tablespoon sugar Pandesal Nem Nuong Chicken liver pate 1/2 cucumber, sliced into matchsticks 1 spring onion, cut to approximately the same length as the cucumber 1 coriander, for garnishing Jalapenos (optional) Maggi seasoning sauce
Method
Nem Nuong
Blend the spring onions and garlic until smooth.
Combine all ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Knead to mix.
Tear off a sheet of baking paper which is about the size of an oven tray. Divide into eight pieces.
Put a bit of the mixture into your hands and roll into a sausage shape. Wrap in a piece of baking paper and place into a freezer-safe container.
Repeat with the whole mixture.
Freeze until firm, about two hours or overnight.
Preheat your air fryer to 180°C.
Take the nem nuong out of the freezer.
Remove the baking paper.
Push the nem nuong through skewers and cook in the air fryer until the juices run clear (about 10 minutes).
Bánh mì
Mix carrot, vinegar and sugar in a bowl and let it pickle for at least an hour.
Split pandesal into half.
Preheat your air fryer to 180°C.
Toast pandesal until slightly golden.
Place a bit of pate into a small bowl and microwave for 20 seconds. This will make it soft and easy to spread.
Spread pate onto the bottom half of the pandesal.
Top with nem nuong, picked carrot, spring onion, cucumber, coriander and jalapeno.
Add a few drops of Maggi seasoning sauce and a bit of the pickling juice, then close with the top half of the pandesal. Happy eating!