Lang Son Grilled Meat Ball

Whenever it comes to Vietnamese meatballs, people usually think of the so-called sour meatballs in Thanh Hoa or the tasty fried meatballs on Hang Bong St, Hanoi. However, the Grilled Meatballs in Lang Son could still leave a lasting impression on anyone lucky enough to try them. The meatballs are only as big as the wrist; they are wrapped inside three layers of green banana leaves for 1 to 2 days before being grilled on red, hot coals.  
Photo: vietnamtravelmagazine.com

In Lang Son, people make this chewy dish from pork meat, pork skin, and a special Vietnamese food called Thính. The best pork meat must be that from the shoulders of the pigs. This is the only part that is neither too lean nor too fat. Usually, one meatball consists of 0.3 kg of pork. The pork must be clean, sliced into small and long pieces. The pork skin is boiled and shaved. After that, we mix the pork meat, pork skin and Thính together before wrapping them in banana leaves. It is important that each meatball is not wrapped so tightly otherwise it would become so hard to eat. After grilling the meatballs, we remove the burned leaves so that the tempting smell of grilled pork can spread all over the place.