Grill/Barbecue

Lemongrass Grilled Pork with Pickled Root Vegetables and Swiss Chard

by:
May 18, 2015
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Lemongrass Grilled Pork with Pickled Root Vegetables and Swiss Chard
  • Serves 6-8
Author Notes

You lovely people all know how much I hate when people use these kinds of blogs as sounding boards for cripplingly boring personal details about their lives (most of which has fuck-all to do with cooking). Despite that, I still feel like I should laugh in the face of hypocrisy and at least hazard something resembling an explanation of why I suddenly disappeared for a month.

Here’s the short version: I managed to convince a bunch of very smart, very nice people that I was kind of smart too, and they gave me a piece of paper that says so. Most people call it a ‘degree’, but that about sums it up. Point is, finishing that fucker up is pretty damn difficult, and took up a bunch of time and a bunch of brain. Turns out I need both to cook (something else I learned in the last two years), or I become a blithering idiot faster than I can put the pan to the pyrotechnics.

The good news is that I’m back, brain (mostly) intact.

And I’m hungry.

So I’m gonna do what comes natural: freshness, heat, and meat. Not necessarily in that order.

Feels good to be back, doesn’t it? —Fresh Beats, Fresh Eats

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1/4 cup chopped lemongrass
  • 2 pounds pork shoulder (cut into one-inch strips)
  • 6 garlic cloves
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 cup fish sauce
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 cup red pepper jelly (see here for recipe: http://freshbeatsfresheats.com/recipe/tomato-red-pepper-bisque-with-grilled-cheese/)
  • 2 cups coarsely grated carrots
  • 2 cups coarsely grated daikon radish
  • 1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 bunches Swiss chard (washed and chiffonaded)
  • 1 lemon
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 cups sushi rice
  • 6 eggs
  • 1/2 cup sesame seeds
Directions
  1. First, throw all the pork ingredients except the actual pig and the pepper jelly (that's the lemongrass, garlic, shallots, gochujang, apple cider vinegar, fish sauce, and olive oil) into a food processor and grind it into a paste.
  2. Put the pork in a bowl, cover it with the paste, and marinate it overnight.
  3. Let the pork sit at room temperature before you throw it on the grill, that way you’ll get a nice, even heat throughout.
  4. Mix up the ingredients for the pickled vegetables (carrots, daikon, sugar, rice vinegar, and salt) in a small bowl and let that sit for a half hour at room temperature too.
  5. Get the greens going right before you start grilling by heating up a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat in a large pot. Start on the rice too; you want that coming right off the stove when everything’s ready.
  6. Throw the red pepper flakes in for 30 seconds, then the greens. Cook ‘em until they start to wilt, about 2-3 minutes.
  7. Cover the greens with water, then cover the pot and let it simmer for around 15 minutes until the greens are fully cooked and the water’s mostly evaporated. You’ll probably have to pour out some gross green water at the end, but you’re ostensibly a grown-up; you can handle it.
  8. Finish the greens with a squeeze of lemon juice right before you serve them. If you timed it right they should be ready by the time everything else is.
  9. Back to the pork: heat up the grill to medium high heat and let the good stuff sizzle for about four minutes a side.
  10. Dip the strips in the red pepper jelly (or if you’re a lazy fuck like me, just pour the stuff all over the pork) and throw them back on the grill for about two minutes a side.
  11. Now’s a good time to soft-boil those eggs: just throw them in some lightly boiling water (that means just above a simmer, not bubbling liquid death all over your countertop) for five minutes, put them in cold water for a minute, and peel.
  12. All that’s left is to assemble. Toast the sesame seeds over medium heat for a minute or two. Get some bowls, put some rice in ‘em, and top with greens, pork, sesame seeds, pickled vegetables, and a delicious egg. And make sure to break the egg open with a fork so you can let that gratuitous yolk ooze all over everything.
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