Vietnamese Grilled Pork and Fried Egg over Steamed Rice (Com Suon Nuong)

~The smoky, sweet flavor of Vietnamese grilled pork is nothing short of addicting. Not surprisingly, it has been a welcome addition to my every one of my family’s BBQ. And to be honest, it is the main reason I have an outdoor grill.

Some call for the chop. I prefer to use the shoulder blade cut, which is has more marbling and yields a tender, succulent steak. The thinner you pound the meat, the less time it has to marinate. I prefer it to be about ¾” thick so it retains more of both the natural meat flavor and texture.

The preferred method of cooking is grilling outdoors. But if that’s not an option, an indoor cast iron grill is fine. Just make sure to open up all the windows and turn the vent on high. The sugar in the marinade will caramelize that much quicker and will easily set off the smoke alarm in smaller areas, so be forewarned.

Special equipment:

wide Tupperware container or large shallow bowl

outdoor grill or cast iron grill

pan

Ingredients:

2 ½ lbs blade steak

½ cup caramel sauce

3 - 4 tbsp fish sauce

1 scallion- minced

2 tsp fresh ground pepper

vegetable oil

2 eggs

2 cups steamed rice (approximately)

nuoc cham

mo hanh

Instructions:

1. Combine caramel sauce, fish sauce, fresh ground pepper, and scallion. It should have a sweet, salty, smoky flavor. Taste and adjust more or less fish sauce, if necessary.
2. Place steaks into Tupperware and cover with marinade. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
3. Before grilling, let meat come up to room temperature (about 30min). 
4. Brush off any scallions from the meat so it doesn't burn into the meat. 
5. Set grill on medium heat. Grill each side approximately 3min or until cooked through, turning only once. Set meat aside to rest.
6. Set pan on stove over medium high heat. Wait until pan is warm and then add just enough vegetable oil to coat surface of pan. Crack one egg towards one end of the pan. Tilt the pan slightly so that it stays on one side. Once the whites have begun to firm, flip the egg, still keeping it on one side of the pan.
7. Add a little bit more oil and tilt pan slight towards the other side, while keeping the first egg on the opposite side. Crack second egg over oil. The first egg should be done by now, so remove from pan and set aside. Once whites have begun to firm on second egg, flip it over. Cook for about 20 seconds and set aside with first egg.
8. Divide steamed rice evenly between 2 plates. Place steaks over rice. Place eggs on top. Garnish with mo hanh. 
9. Serve immediately with nuoc cham on the side.