Khmer · Main · Served at Mekong (#5 and #6)
Sach ang
Beef and pork skewers with pickle and tuk meric
Sach ang is Khmer grilled meat on skewers. I make two kinds from one kroeung and lemongrass marinade: beef with Kampot pepper, and pork with coconut milk and extra palm sugar.
I cook them under the broiler and char the glaze with a torch at the end. Serve them with pickled green papaya, raw vegetables and herbs, and tuk meric, a dip of Kampot pepper, salt, and lime.
- Yield
- About 6 beef and 7 pork skewers, about 65 g raw each. Serves 4 with rice
Ingredients
Serves
Meat
- 400 gboneless ribeye, 1 to 1¼ inches thick (1 steak), sliced ¼ inch across the grain, fat left on every piece (ribeye cap if the butcher has it)
- 450 gpork collar or neck, sliced ¼ inch
Base marinade (for both)
- 2¼ tbsp (about 35 g)kroeung, pounded smooth
- 1 stalklemongrass, pale part, minced very fine
- 2 to 3 clovesgarlic, minced
- 2 tbspoyster sauce
- 1½ tbspfish sauce
- 1½ tbsppalm sugar, grated
- 1½ tbspneutral oil
- ½ tspMSG
Finishes
- 1 tspKampot black pepper, coarsely cracked, for the beef half
- ¾ tspextra palm sugar, for the beef half, so the glaze caramelizes
- 2 tbspcoconut milk, for the pork half
- 2 tspextra palm sugar, for the pork half
Tuk meric (lime and Kampot pepper dip)
- 1¼ tbspKampot black pepper, lightly toasted, coarsely cracked
- 1/3 cuplime juice
- ½ tspsalt
- ½ tspsugar
- 1/8 tspMSG
- 1 clovegarlic, minced (optional)
The plate
- pickled green papaya (see its own recipe)
- cucumber spears
- carrot sticks, if you have them
- long beans
- Thai basil
- cilantro
- lettuce leaves
Method
- Slice the ribeye ¼ inch across the grain with the fat left on, and slice the pork collar ¼ inch. Keep them in separate bowls.
- Mix the base marinade until the sugar dissolves. It should taste salty-sweet and smell of lemongrass. Split it in half.
- Stir the Kampot pepper and its extra palm sugar into one half and coat the beef. Stir the coconut milk and its extra palm sugar into the other half and coat the pork. Marinate at least 2 hours.
- Stir the tuk meric together and rest it 10 minutes.
- Soak bamboo skewers 30 minutes. Thread the meat on accordion-style, three or four ribbons per skewer, loosely rather than packed tight, so the heat gets in.
- For the glaze, scrape the leftover marinade from both bowls into one small pan. Add a spoon of palm sugar and a splash of water. Simmer 3 to 4 minutes until syrupy.
- Set the broiler on high with the rack 3 to 4 inches from the element, and use a foil-lined sheet pan. Broil the beef about 3 minutes a side and the pork about 4 minutes a side. Brush with glaze and give them 1 minute more.
- Brush on glaze again, then blister it with the torch, moving fast, until the sugar spots go black at the edges.
Notes
- Use well-marbled meat. I use ribeye and pork collar.
- If the pork tastes flat, add ½ tsp grated fresh turmeric to its half of the marinade next time. The Kampot pepper should come through in the beef marinade.
- If your broiler is weak, use a cast iron grill pan. Get it ripping hot and cook in batches without crowding.
- The sugar smokes under the broiler, so open the windows and turn the fan on.
- Marinating overnight is better for the pork.
What I use
- Sheet pan with a rack: Nordic Ware half sheet (opens in a new tab) (for the broiler)
- Torch for charring glazes: Iwatani PRO2 (opens in a new tab) (for blistering the glaze)
- Little bowls for dips and condiments: Blue and white 4", set of 6 (opens in a new tab) (for the tuk meric)
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