Karen Martini's alt-Christmas lunch with an Asian vibe

My Christmas lunch is usually a mix of traditional dishes – some classically festive, some more personal,and some that are pitched to the season, weather outlook or how I'm feeling. This little line-up is certainly not traditional, but it makes for a delicious feast and one that will work particularly well on a hot Christmas day. The two savoury dishes were inspired by a recent trip to Vietnam, which helped me to appreciate a major feature of their cuisine: lemongrass. I've used it here for the tuna, which was inspired by a beef rub used in traditional jungle beef salads. You can eat this as hand-held morsels, or pile the herbs and dressing onto the tuna and serve it as a salad. Lemongrass is also a big feature of the pork, which is delicious hot or cold – either intentionally so or as lunch inevitably stretches into the afternoon – served with the cool freshness of the rice noodle and herb salad. Dessert is a more western affair, and a celebration of beautiful seasonal stone fruit along with just a little bit of creamy, cakey indulgence.

Seared lemongrass tuna with rice paper, herbs, grated egg and basil seeds

1 thick lemongrass stem, pale end finely sliced

3 garlic cloves, chopped

½ tsp Chinese five-spice

1 tbsp salt flakes

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

700g mid-loin tuna, trimmed and cut lengthways into two pieces

80ml grapeseed oil

1 white salad onion, finely sliced in half-moons

1½ tbsp basil seeds, soaked in cold water for 20 minutes and drained

1 lemon, peeled, segmented and chopped

4 hard-boiled egg yolks

½ bunch Thai basil, leaves picked

½ bunch dill fronds, leaves picked

½ bunch coriander, leaves picked

½ bunch Vietnamese mint, leaves picked

2 handfuls lemon balm, leaves picked

2 long green chillies, finely sliced

lime wedges, to serve

black sesame crackers or large prawn crackers, to serve

superfine rectangles of rice paper, cut into triangles, to serve (if these are hard to find you could just use the prawn crackers or lettuce cups, or try lightly moistening spring roll wrappers with a damp cloth)

Dipping sauce (double this if making the noodle salad)

4 small garlic cloves, chopped

4 red bird's eye chillies, chopped

3 tbsp lime juice

3½ tbsp Vietnamese fish sauce

3 tbsp white sugar

1. Pound the lemongrass and garlic using a mortar and pestle until an even paste. Add the five-spice, salt and pepper and combine. Smear the paste evenly over the tuna, pressing it on firmly.

2. Add the oil to a frying pan over medium heat and sear the tuna pieces evenly for about one minute on each side. Set aside to cool, and then wrap tightly in cling film. Refrigerate until chilled.

3. For the dipping sauce, pound the garlic and chilli using a mortar and pestle until a rough paste. Add the lime juice, fish sauce and sugar and mix until the sugar has dissolved. This will need to sit for about five minutes before using.

4. Once chilled, cut the tuna into slices about five millimetres thick – don't slice it too thinly – and arrange on a serving platter. Top with the onion, basil seeds and chopped lemon and grate over the egg yolks. Combine the herbs and green chilli and pile onto a platter with the dipping sauce, lime wedges, rice paper and crackers on the side. Drizzle some of the sauce over the tuna and serve.

Drink dry riesling, crisp, cold lager or perhaps a caipiroska

​Serves 8-10

Vietnamese-style slow-roasted pork shoulder with lemongrass, and a rice noodle and herb salad

140g brown sugar

140g salt, plus extra

2.5-3kg Berkshire pork shoulder, skin on, unrolled

2 brown onions, sliced into thick rounds

250ml coconut water

50ml rice wine vinegar

Lemongrass paste

5 lemongrass stalks, outer leaves discarded and pale stalks finely sliced (about 130g)

4 eschalots, chopped (about 50g)

6 garlic cloves, chopped (about 20g)

6cm piece ginger, grated (about 25g)

zest and juice of 1 lime

2 tbsp grapeseed or vegetable oil

2 tbsp fish sauce

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tsp ground white pepper

2 tsp Chinese five-spice

2 tsp chilli flakes

Noodle salad

300ml vegetable oil, plus extra

200g raw (red skinned) peanuts

40g bean thread noodles

500g "bun bo hue" dried rice noodles

1 handful garlic chives, chopped

½ bunch Vietnamese mint, leaves picked

½ bunch Thai basil, leaves picked

dipping sauce (from the tuna recipe)

1. Preheat the oven to 160C fan-forced or 180C conventional.

2. For the pork, combine the sugar and 140 grams of salt in a large glass or ceramic dish and rub into the pork thoroughly. Refrigerate for four to six hours (or overnight), skin-side up.

3. For the lemongrass paste, add all the ingredients to a blender and blitz to a rough paste.

4. Lift the pork from the cure and pat dry. Smother the meaty inside with the lemongrass paste, roll tightly and secure with string. Place the onions in a baking tray to act as a trivet and place the pork on top. Pour the coconut water and rice wine vinegar into the tray and rub the skin of the pork with a little extra salt. Cover with baking paper and foil and roast for two hours.

5. Uncover the pork, turn up the heat to 180C fan-forced or 200C conventional and roast for a further one and three-quarter hours.

6. If needed, turn the oven grill on for the last five or 10 minutes of cooking to crisp up the crackling – watch carefully, as it can burn very quickly. Rest loosely covered with foil.

7. For the noodle salad, fry the peanuts in a few centimetres of vegetable oil for four to five minutes until lightly golden. Remove the peanuts from the oil, drain well and season with salt. Set aside to cool, before crushing lightly using a mortar and pestle.

8. Bring the same oil up to about 180C and fry the bean thread noodles until they have doubled in size but haven't taken on any colour – this should only take about 20 seconds. Lift from the oil and drain.

9. Cook the rice noodles in boiling water for about 10 minutes until tender. Drain, refresh under cold water, drain again and toss in a little extra vegetable oil.

10. Arrange the rice noodles in a shallow serving bowl, spoon over the dipping sauce as dressing, scatter over the herbs and peanuts and crown with the fried noodles.

11. When ready to serve, slice the pork and serve with the reduced roasting liquid, if desired. If serving the pork hot, thick slices are best, but if closer to room temperature, I prefer it sliced more thinly. Serve the noodle salad on the side.

Serves 8-10

Drink a chenin blanc or off-dry riesling