The Lemongrass Paste

Begin by finely chopping the garlic, spring onions and lemongrass, then tip into a mortar or a food processor for ease. Using a pestle and mortar pound and stir the lemongrass, garlic, spring onions with a pinch of sea salt, until you’ve achieved a fine paste (you can also achieve this with a food processor). Once smooth add the shrimp paste, fish sauce, soy sauce, palm sugar, and sesame seeds, and pound or blitz again until smooth. Then pour over the meat in a mixing bowl and massage well into the meat. For a smooth meat pattie, bash well and massage well together.

Using wet hands (which helps prevent meat mixture from sticking to your hands) divide the meat mixture into snooker-ball sized pieces, and then roll them into a sausage shape and flatten. These patties can be covered and placed in the fridge or freezer at this stage if you do not wish to cook them straight away.

Slice the baguette to open it up ready to compile the meaty baguette.

You may pan fry or grill the meat patties. To pan fry, heat 1 tbsp avocado oil or vegetable oil in a frying pan to a medium-high heat and sear well on one side for 3-4 minutes. Turn once and then fry the other side. To grill, baste the patties in a little oil and place on a grill or barbecue following the same timing principles as pan frying.

Lastly, place the cooked meat patties into the sliced baguette and serve with salad or fine matchsticks of carrots and daikon and some sriracha sauce to top it off.