Whenever it comes to Vietnamese meatballs, people usually think of the so-called sour meatballs in Thanh Hoa or the tasty fried meatballs found on Hang Bong St, Ha Noi. However, the grilled meatballs in Lang Son would still leave a lasting impression on anyone who is lucky enough to try them.
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The meatballs are only as large as a wrist and are wrapped inside three layers of green banana leaves for 1 to 2 days before being grilled on red hot coals.
In Lang Son, people make this chewy dish from pork meat, pork skin, and a special Vietnamese food called Thinh.
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 0.3kg of pork. The pork must be clean, sliced into small and long strips. The pork skin is boiled and shaved before mixing the pork meat, pork skin and Thính together and wrapping them in banana leaves.
It is important that each meatball is not wrapped too tightly otherwise it would become too hard to eat. After grilling the meatballs, the burned leaves are removed so that the tempting smell of grilled pork can drift through the air.