Air Fryer Lemongrass Pork

4 Servings
1 hr 10 min

One of my most used appliances is the air fryer and I just can’t recommend it enough. It has changed the way I’ve cooked on those busy weeknights. It’s easy to use and clean up is a breeze, especially when you don’t need to clean up any splatter on the stove top.


One of my favorite things is to have marinated meat ready to cook. The flavor has plenty of time to penetrate the meat and it’s always ready for me to pull out of the freezer when I can’t decide on what to cook for dinner. My lemongrass pork is a family favorite and cooking it in the air fryer makes it fool proof. I’ve always hated watching lemongrass pork while it cooks on that stove top. The sugar in the marinade means they it tends to burn easily. And, where I live, our winters long and cold so firing up the grill is not always possible.


This is not the time for lean cuts of meat though. If you ever wonder why the meat is so much more flavorful and juicy when you dine in at a Vietnamese restaurant, it’s because they’re not using lean cuts. Leaner cuts means that it will have a higher tendency to dry out. I always use pork shoulder roasts, which I slice into 1/2” slices. Pork shoulder is not just for pulled pork. Pork shoulder can be cooked just like pork chops but with better results. Juicy, tender and flavorful. Once you try this, I promise you will not go back to leaner cuts or pork.

Lemongrass pork
Lemongrass chicken

The marinade works well with chicken too!

Lemongrass pork vermicelli


Air Fryer Lemongrass Pork
Recipe details
  • 4  Servings
  • Prep time: 30 Minutes Cook time: 40 Minutes Total time: 1 hr 10 min
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Ingredients

  • 2 lb pork shoulder roast
Marinade
  • 2 stalks lemongrass, white parts finely minced
  • 1/2 small onion, finely minced
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely minced
  • 4 tbsps brown sugar
  • 3 tbsps fish sauce
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp dark soy sauce
Instructions
Prepping the pork shoulder
Remove the strings from the pork shoulder roast. On a cutting board, slice the shoulder into 1/2” slices cutting across the grain.
Transfer to a large ziploc bag.
Marinade
Add all of the marinade ingredients to the ziploc bag with the pork shoulder slices. Mix everything together well. Seal and refrigerate overnight.
Cook the pork
Transfer the pork into your air fryer basket and place in a single layer. This is the only way to ensure that each pieces gets well browned. And you do want it well browned so that some parts of the pork gets crispy. Air fry at 375 for about 20 minutes, flipping halfway in between. Keep an eye on your pork towards the end. You don’t want it to burn especially as there may some smaller and larger pieces.
Repeat with the remaining pork until you have finished cooking everything. The amount of batches you will need to do will depend on the size of your air fryer.
Tips
  • The marinade works well with chicken too. I recommend boneless skin on chicken thighs. The temperate and time for cooking in the air fryer will be about the same.
  • The lemongrass pork goes well with rice or you can build your own vermicelli bowls with lettuce, cucumbers, mint, pickled carrots and nuoc cham.
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