Grilled lemon grass beef skewers with lettuce, herbs and dips

• 1 stalk lemon grass, trimmed and very finely chopped
• 2 small shallots or spring onions (whites only), roughly chopped
• 1 x 3 cm piece ginger, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 T caster sugar
• 1 T fish sauce
• 500 g minute steak, each steak cut into 3 long strips
• 100 g rice vermicelli noodles, cooked according to package instructions and drained
• ½ cup each herbs (such as mint, basil and dill)
• 2 iceberg lettuces, leaves separated
• 4 T Vietnamese dipping sauces (nuoc cham)

In a mortar or processor, pound or blend together the lemon grass,  shallot, ginger, garlic and pepper, to taste, to make a coarse paste. Work in the sugar and fish sauce. Mix with the sliced meat until well coated. Thread the strips of meat lengthways onto wooden skewers so that the meat lays out flat), and leave to marinate overnight in a strong sandwich bag.
In a preheated heavy frying pan, grill the meat skewers for 30 seconds on each side, or until caramelised.
Using scissors, cut clumps of the noodles into short lengths. Lay the herbs,lettuce and dipping sauces out on a platter.
To serve: Lay a small portion of noodles onto a lettuce leaf, add some herbs and a piece of beef (pulled from its stick), roll up, then dip into the nuoc cham and eat.