Vietnamese BBQ Lemongrass Pork

Although I like chinese bbq pork, nothing beats vietnamese bbq for me and I order a side of it almost every time I go out for pho. It's like pork candy.

I didn't actually bbq this because it's winter but I will most certainly do that ASAP because this stuff is the bomb. Sticky, sweet pork is always my friend and even without the charred bits that it gets from grilling over charcoal, this stuff is delicious. After much searching around and needing a new recipe to try, I settled on this recipe from The Ravenous Couple.

Vietnamese BBQ Lemongrass Pork
adapted from the ravenous couple

2 pork tenderloins
1/4 cup minced lemongrass
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbls fish sauce
few grinds of black pepper
3 cloves garlic
3 tbls sesame oil
1 tbls kecap manis ( i am not sure what thick soy sauce is but this is what I use)
3 tbls toasted sesame seeds

I chopped up 3" of lemongrass stalk and then whizzed it up in the bullet   - do enough that you end up with 1/4 cup of the minced lemongrass.
Add the rest of the ingredients, except for the sesame seeds, to your food processor or blender or bullet and whiz it up until its completely blended.

Slice the pork into thin slices, probably about 1/4" or so and then pour the marinade all over the pork, mix it well making sure that every inch of each piece of pork is coated. Cover and put it in the fridge for at least an hour up to 24 hrs.

You can heat a grill pan (or just a heavy sauté pan if you don't have a grill pan) over medium high heat and grill the pork for a couple of minutes per side. You could also broil it. If you want charred bits but want to cook it on the stove top you can just throw it under a really hot broiler for a minute before you serve it.
Luckily for me, The Neighbour has a gas BBQ so I threaded the meat on skewers and we grilled it over med high heat for a few minutes per side. It gets nice and caramelized when you grill it so I was happy to share our meal with them - they have the bbq lol.
We ate it with rice this time.