Sticky Vietnamese Pork Meatballs with Rice Noodles and Pickled Veg

Ingredients

• 500g pork mince

• 2 tsp fish sauce

• A thumb of fresh ginger, grated

• 2 garlic cloves, crushed

• 2 lemongrass stalks, finely chopped

• The zest of 1 lime

• A handful of finely chopped fresh coriander

• ½-1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

For the quick-pickled carrots

• 400g carrots, julienned

• 100ml rice wine vinegar

• 70ml fish sauce

• Juice of 2 limes

• 3 tbsp warm water

• 2 tsp sea salt

• 2 tbsp caster sugar

For the honey glaze

• 25g clear honey

• 20ml soy sauce

• 2 tsp fish sauce

• The zest of 1 lime

To serve

• Vermicelli noodles (rice noodles), coriander, chopped peanuts, chillis and lime wedges

Method

1. For the meatballs, combine all the ingredients and mix together in a bowl. Roll into 20-24 meatballs, then set aside.

2. For the glaze, mix the honey, soy, fish sauce and lime zest in a bowl.

3. For the quick-pickled veg, add the fish sauce, vinegar, sugar, lime juice, water and salt into a bowl. Stir to dissolve the sugar, transfer half to a mixing bowl (save the rest), then add the carrots.

4. Heat the oven to its lowest setting and in a large frying pan heat a glug of oil. Then fry the meatballs over a medium heat, turning occasionally, for about 10 minutes until cooked. Put the meatballs in a small roasting tin, drizzle over the glaze, toss to coat, then put in the oven, covered loosely in foil, to keep warm. Cook your noodles according to timings on the packet.

5. To serve, divide the noodles, add the meatballs and a drizzle of glaze, top with pickled carrots, a scatter of coriander, peanuts, chilli and a squeeze of lime.