Preparation
20 minutes
Cooking
1 hour
Difficulty
Easy
Grilled meat with moc mat leaves is a specialty dish of mountainous cuisine. Today, the Into the Kitchen section of TasteVN will guide you on how to make moc mat leaf skewers (mắc mật) using an oven, which is extremely delicious and simple. Let’s get into the kitchen and make this grilled dish right away!
Ingredients for Moc Mat Leaf Skewers Serves 5 people
Pork belly 1 kg Moc mat leaves 6 branches Ginger 1 piece Onion 1 bulb Shallots 2 bulbs Lemongrass 3 stalks Honey 2 tablespoons Oyster sauce 2 tablespoons Fish sauce 1 tablespoon Five-spice powder 5 gr (1/2 packet) Tomato ketchup 2 tablespoons Chili powder 1 tablespoon
How to choose fresh ingredients
How to choose fresh pork belly
- Fresh pork belly usually has a light red or bright pink color. When cut with a knife, the meat appears pinkish-white, slightly shiny, and the layers of fat in between are bright white and firm.
- Additionally, to select a good piece of meat that is not greasy, you should choose a piece that has a balanced ratio of fat and lean meat.
- Good quality, clean pork belly, not raised with lean meat enhancers, usually has a firm texture, with the meat and fat tightly attached to each other, and when lifted, it does not feel overly loose.
- You should avoid choosing pork belly pieces that have a sour, foul smell, or any other strange odors. Instead, you should select meat that has a characteristic fragrant smell, as that indicates it is fresh to ensure the quality of the dish.
What is mac mat leaf? Where to buy it?
- Mac mat leaves are harvested from the mac mat tree, with dark green leaves, a smooth, shiny surface, and a thin layer of fuzz on the back. Mac mat leaves are used for grilling or roasting with dishes to enhance the aroma and increase the dish’s appeal.
- Currently, you can find mac mat leaves at specialty spice shops or places that sell ornamental plants. Additionally, you can also order them from reputable e-commerce sites!
- The current market price for mac mat leaves ranges from 50,000 to 250,000 VND (price updated in December 2021).
Required tools
Oven, blender, knife, cutting board, bowl,…
How to Prepare Grilled Pork Skewers with Mac Mat Leaves
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Prepare the Ingredients
Wash the pork belly with salt water, drain it, and then cut it into bite-sized pieces.
Pick the leaves from the mac mat, wash them with diluted salt water, and let them drain.
Peel the garlic, onion, and shallots, wash them clean, and chop them finely. For the lemongrass, wash it, remove the leaves, crush it, and cut it into sections. For the ginger, peel it, wash it, and slice it!
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Marinate the Meat
Next, put the mac mat leaves, garlic, onion, and lemongrass into a blender, adding a mixture of seasonings including: 2 tablespoons of honey, 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, 1/2 packet of five-spice powder, 2 tablespoons of ketchup, and 1 tablespoon of chili powder. Then blend for about 45 – 90 seconds to create a thick marinade for the meat.
Place the meat in a large bowl, add the marinade, mix well, cover with plastic wrap, and let the meat marinate in the refrigerator for 3 – 4 hours.
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Grilling Meat
After the meat has been marinated for enough time, take it out to prepare for skewering. When skewering, alternate the meat with leaves of Mắc Mật, using 2 leaves for every piece of meat.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes. Then place the skewered meat into the oven at 180 degrees for about 30 minutes, then take it out, flip the meat, brush a little honey on it, and continue grilling at 180 degrees for another 10 minutes to complete. Grilling this way will make the meat tender, evenly cooked, without being dry or burnt.
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Final Product
The dish has an extremely enticing aroma thanks to the combination of grilled meat and the marinade mixture. The pork belly is evenly soaked in a very rich sauce, with each piece of meat being tender, juicy, and infused with the delightful fragrance of Mắc Mật leaves.
Grilled Mắc Mật leaves meat is delicious when eaten with bread or vermicelli, and when enjoying, you can also serve it with some greens to make the dish less greasy!
See more:
Recently, we provided a guide on how to make grilled pork skewers with mac mat leaves using an oven, which is very simple but has an extremely appealing flavor from TasteVN. Be sure to note down the recipe and get in the kitchen to try it out! Wishing you success in your cooking.
