Grilled Ground Beef in Wild Pepper Leaves Recipe

(Bo La Lot)

Ingredients : Serves 3 - 4

450 g

2 cloves

1 stalk

1/4 teaspoon

1 teaspoon

1/2 teaspoon

1 teaspoon

2 teaspoons

1 tablespoon

625 ml (2 1/2 cups)

Oil for brushing

Lean ground beef

Garlic, peeled and minced

Lemongrass, minced

Shallots, peeled and minced

Salt

Curry powder

Freshly ground black pepper

Sugar

Oyster sauce

Fish sauce

Bamboo skewers

Wild pepper leaves, cleaned

Nuoc Cham

Method :

In a large mixing bowl, combine the beef with the remaining seasoning ingredients, mixing well by hand. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
About 1 hour before serving time, start the barbecue fire. Soak the bamboo skewers.
To make the meatballs, lay 1 leaf on a flat surface and place a generous tablespoonful of filling onto the leaf at the stem end. Fold the top edge over the filling and fold the right and left sides in over the filling. Roll up the leaf tightly, making a packet about 5 cm ( 2 in) long. Repeat until all the filling is used up, for a total of 36 leaves.
Thread 3 rolls on a single skewer. Brush the rolls with vegetable oil and grill over medium-hot coals 5 to 6 minutes. The leaves will char slightly. Remove from fire and serve with nuoc cham dipping sauce.

Wild pepper leaves are known as "La Lot" in Vietnam, daun kaduk in Malaysia and Indonesia, and chaa phluu in Thailand. If they are not available, substitute with vine leaves.