Laotian Grilled Pork Skewers with Papaya Salad and Sticky Rice

Ingredients

• 2 pounds ground pork
• 1 whole egg
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon minced ginger
• 2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon thinly sliced kaffir lime leaf
• Salt and fresh ground black pepper
• Sticky Rice, recipe follows
• Papaya Salad, recipe follows

Directions

Combine all ingredients and form into 1 to 1 1/4-ounce balls. Skewer 8 meatballs onto skewers that have been soaked in water for 30 minutes. Grill over medium-high charcoal for about 8 minutes or until cooked through.

To serve, place Sticky Rice on 1 half of serving plate, Papaya Salad on the other, and 1 pork skewer over both.

Sticky Rice:

2 cups glutinous rice

Water, to cover

Soak rice in water to cover at least 2 hours to overnight.

Place soaked rice in a cone shaped bamboo steamer basket over boiling water and steam, covered, for 35 to 45 minutes, turning rice over halfway through cooking.

Papaya Salad:

2 cloves garlic

3 dried hot chiles

3 fresh Thai chiles

1 green unripe papaya, thinly shredded lengthwise

2 teaspoons sugar

1 lime, juiced

1 tablespoon fish sauce

6 cherry tomatoes, halved

In a large mortar and pestle, crush garlic and both types of chiles to a coarse paste. Add papaya, sugar, and lime juice and continue to stir with the pestle and a spoon to blend. Add the fish sauce and cherry tomatoes and combine. Check seasoning and adjust, if necessary.