Vietnamese Pork Lettuce Wraps

This is a beloved family recipe.  My husband would be at a loss without it.  It is his comfort food; something he grew up on.  My mother-in-law acquired it by trading English lessons with Nguyet Tran for her recipes when my husband was just a toddler.  In the family cookbook, my mother-in-law writes, 

"Nguyet & Dr. Tran escaped from Viet Nam just before the fall of Saigon.  They left with only Dr. Tran's eyeglasses and his medical diploma."  

I am beside myself with this rich piece of history that touches my own little family.

These Lettuce Wraps are completely at the mercy of the Fish Sauce.  It is THE flavor of the entire dish.  My husband probably drinks it when no one is looking. But that bottle of "fish sauce" you see at the grocery store isn't "prepared".  You need to add some other ingredients...

FISH SAUCE

Fish Sauce *make this the day before to let the flavors combine

• The juice and pulp from one lemon
• 5 Tbsp sugar
• 1/3 cup fish sauce
• 1/3 cup water
• one jalapeńo, sliced horizontally into circles

Vietnamese Pork

• thinly sliced pork, skewered and grilled
• green onions
• cucumbers
• Asian glass noodles, cooked
• carrot sticks, thinly sliced
• bean sprouts
• red or green romaine lettuce

*Wrap pork and vegetables in lettuce. Dip in fish sauce.

A Happy Husband