Ingredients

• 1 Clove garlic, sliced
• 1 tb Vegetable oil
• 1 sm Piece of pork liver (see -note below), minced
• 1 tb Ground pork
• 1 ts Tomato paste
• 1/4 c Tuong
• 1/2 c Water
• 1 1/2 ts Peanut butter
• 1 tb Granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 tb Sesame seeds
• 10 Roasted peanuts, coarsely -chopped [I use unsalted -Planter's roasted Peanuts.]
• Thin strips of hot pepper -for garnish

I prefer the following version. It's a bit more complex, but one of the ingredients might be a bit hard to find++tuong, a kind of soy bean paste used in Vietnam. A good Vietnamese market will have it.

Using medium heat, fry the garlic in the oil. Add the liver and pork. Lower the heat and add the tomato paste; stir and add the tuong. Stir again and add the water and peanut butter. Raise the heat to medium and add the sugar. Boil for 1 minute and transfer to a bowl.

Add the sesame seeds to a medium-hot frying pan, stirring constantly until browned. This should take 2 to 3 minutes. Add the sesame seeds to the nuoc leo, along with the chopped peanuts.

The sauce can be garnished with thin strips of hot pepper.

NOTE: Beef or chicken liver can be substituted, but pork liver is preferred. The piece should be the size of a large chicken liver.

From "The Classic Cuisine of Vietnam", Bach Ngo and Gloria Zimmerman