Grilled Pork Noodles - stalks

Method

• Soak 6 to 12 thin wood skewers (8 to 10 in. long) in water at least 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, trim off and discard tough tops and root ends of lemon grass. Remove and discard tough outer layers of stalks until you reach tender inner part. Cut tender part into 1/4-inch pieces.
• In a blender, combine lemon grass, garlic, onion, oyster sauce, hoisin, soy, honey, and pepper; whirl until finely ground and soupy.
• Trim and discard fat from pork. Slice meat across grain as thin as possible, then slice into about 1-inch-wide strips. Coat pork slices with lemon grass mixture.
• Weave wood skewers in and out of meat strips, down the center, at 1-inch intervals. Loosely push meat together so it bunches up, filling skewers equally.
• In a 5- to 6-quart pan over high heat, bring about 3 quarts water to a boil. Add rice noodles and cook until they are barely tender to bite, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain, then immerse the hot noodles in cold water. Let stand until cool, then drain.
• Divide lettuce, bean sprouts, and mint and cilantro sprigs among 6 wide soup bowls. Mound equal portions of noodles in the bowls.
• Place pork on a barbecue grill over a solid bed of hot coals or high heat on a gas grill (you can hold your hand at grill level only 2 to 3 seconds); cover gas grill. Cook pork, turning to brown the meat on all sides, 6 to 8 minutes total.
• Place skewers of meat on noodles in bowls. Sprinkle with peanuts. Push meat off skewers and eat with condiments in bowl, adding sweet and sour fish sauce to taste.