In all honesty, I really don't know what to call this........
I'm not going to insult anyone and call it Lamb Bun Cha, that would be wrong.....it's basically the product of having our little backyard garden go a little crazy and the Missus texting me this morning asking what to get at the market. I had been going through Cindy Pawlcyn's, Big Small Plates and saw a recipe for what is called Spicy Lamb Burgers with Vietnamese Salad. And while this bares hardly any resemblance to that recipe, I always try to note my inspiration.
The Missus decided it would be great grilling these.....and even better, why don't we do it over binchotan on our konru, wrapping it in herbs and lettuce from our yard. Just like tree-huggers would do!
And so it came to pass.........and this was pretty darn good. We grilled it with some shishito peppers that needed to be picked soon.
We dipped these in nuoc mam cham and had a nice meal. The lamb was really moist and full of flavor...though it just wasn't gamey enough for the Missus.
Still, it was rather quick once you get the bincho going. There was a good amount of flavor. The savory fish sauce dip balanced out the borderline almost too sweet meatballs.
And as always, I lived to cook another day!
And we had a couple of interesting beers to boot...actually, I liked the name more than the beer.
Asian style grilled lamb meatballs:
1 lb ground lamb
3 tb minced shallot
2 tb minced scallion
3 tb minced mint
1/4 cup minced cilantro
1 tb dark brown sugar
1 tb agave syrup
2 finely minced Thai chilies
3 tb fish sauce
1 tb soy sauce
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
- Combine all ingredients and let rest for 20-30 minutes
- Roll into balls then flatten into small patties
- Grill and serve with fresh herbs, nuoc mam cham, and wrapped in lettuce leaves
Thanks for reading!
Looks great, especially with the grilled peppers. Ha ha, Bert had one of those "A$$ Kisser" drinks not too long ago. I bet the awesome smell of the meat grilling made your canine friend next door crazy!
Posted by: caninecologne | Wednesday, 14 August 2013 at 09:23 PM
Hey CC - Those shishito are getting out of control. Love the name. And our neighbor was drooling all over the wall.....all was right in the world!
Posted by: Kirk | Thursday, 15 August 2013 at 06:09 AM
Looks damn good!
Posted by: nhbilly | Thursday, 15 August 2013 at 08:04 AM
It turned out well Billy!
Posted by: Kirk | Thursday, 15 August 2013 at 12:54 PM
" Just like tree-huggers would do!" Did you guys put on your hemp clothes and burkenstocks while grilling? Heehee
Burgers look and sound great. The Mister wants me to make this the next time I get ground lamb.
Posted by: Carol | Sunday, 18 August 2013 at 08:53 AM
Hi Carol - Show me a delicious tree and I'm sure to hug it.....before it eat it!
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 19 August 2013 at 06:17 AM