Recipe: Xiu Mai - Vietnamese Meat Balls

Let me introduce you to the Vietnamese version of the Italian Meatball Sandwich: Banh Mi Xiu Mai.  Served with a French baguette, the Vietnamese meatball version makes up what it lacks in Italian seasoning with the staple Vietnamese nuoc mam (fish sauce).  Stamped with mom's approval, I share with you MY recipe for Xiu Mai.

Ingredients
1 lb ground pork
1 medium shallot, diced
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tbsp cornstarch
3 tsp fish sauce
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp honey
2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 egg
1 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp canola oil

Sauce
1 - 14.5 oz can of fire roasted tomatoes
1 - 6 oz can of tomato paste
2 cups shrimp stock
4 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1 shallot, diced
5 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp of olive oil

Garnish
French baguette
Pickled carrots
Pickled daikon
Cucumber cut into matchsticks
Cilantro


Directions for Meatballs
1. Combine the panko bread crumbs with the milk and let soak as you prepare the rest of the ingredients

2. Combine the ground pork, shallots, cornstarch, fish sauce, sugar, honey, garlic powder, and pepper.  Allow the mix to sit for 15 minutes for the ingredients to marry.

3.  Add the egg, olive oil, and soaked panko bread crumbs to the ground pork mix and combine.

4. Form the meatballs. (Tip: use an ice cream scoop for uniformity)

5. In a 9 inch skillet, heat 3 tbsp of canola oil and brown the meatballs.  Set meatballs aside.

Sauce
1. In the same skillet used to brown the meatballs, heat the olive oil.

2. Add the diced shallots and allow to cook for a minute.

3. Add the garlic.  Allow the shallots to sweat and soften

4. Add the fire roasted diced tomatoes and cook.

5. Add the tomato paste and cook.

6.  Add the fish sauce and sugar.  Stir to mix with the sauce.

7. Add the shrimp stock slowly.  Add more for a more watery sauce or less for a thicker sauce.  I found that adding 2 cups of stock formulated my ideal sauce consistency.

8. Add the meatballs to the sauce and increase the heat to a boil.  Reduce to simmer.

9. Cover the sauce and meatballs with a lid and allow to cook for half an hour.

Assembly
1. Slice the meatballs in half and place inside the French baguette.

2. Pour some of the tomato sauce over the meatballs

3. Garnish with the pickled vegetables and cilantro.

Bon appétit!

P.S: Who doesn't love a giveaway.  Click HERE for information about my current giveaway!

Recipe: Hu Tieu Sa Te aka Satay Noodle Soup with Beef

Next to pho, this has got to be my ultimate favorite beef noodle soup.  The satay consistency and flavors lend this noodle soup a more stew-like feel than pho with its clear broth.  My mom introduced me to this noodle soup later in my childhood, and I still joke with her that I feel cheated for the earlier years.  I believe this is of Chinese origins, but don't quote me on that.  My mom, however, DID get the recipe from a Chinese friend so...maybe!  If anybody knows, do share your information, please!  

Special Equipment

4 quart stock pot

Broth Ingredients

3 quarts of shrimp stock

2 tbsp hoisin sauce

1 tsp oyster sauce

3 tbsp crunchy peanut butter

1/3 tsp chili oil with crunchy garlic

2 heaping tsp of Lee Kum Kee's Satay Sauce

1. Warm the shrimp stock.

2. Add the hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, crunchy peanut butter, chili oil, and satay sauce to the shrimp stock and thoroughly mix.  

Assembly (simmer broth while you are assembling the bowls)

sliced rib eye

cooked tendon

fresh hu tieu noodles or extra large pho noodles

tomato slices

cucumber, cut into matchsticks

fried shallots to garnish

Tia to (red perilla leaves)

Hung lui (mint leaves)

Hung que (Thai basil)

bean sprouts

lime wedges

Sriracha hot sauce

1. If using fresh hu tieu noodles, separate the noodles after you remove them from packaging.  Fair warning: this will be an oily mess!  If using dry extra large pho noodles, bring a pot of water to boil.  Put pho noodles in using a strainer, swirling noodles the entire time to prevent the noodles from clinging to each other.  Taste test the noodles to determine doneness.  They should be done after about 8-10 minutes.  Make sure the noodles are drained of excess water before placing them into the serving bowl(s).

2. Quickly dip the sliced rib eye into the hot sa te broth to flash cook the meat.  Remove and top the noodles with the flash cooked rib eye and tendon.

3. Arrange the sliced tomatoes and cucumber matchsticks on top of the noodles.  

4. Increase the heat of the broth to bring it to a rolling boil.  Ladle broth into each bowl.

5. Garnish with tia to, hung lui, hung que, bean sprouts, and fried shallots.  Squeeze as much lime as desired.  Add as much Sriracha hot sauce as you can handle.  

Cook's note: I realize my picture does not include cucumber, but that's my personal preference when eating this noodle soup. 

Bon appetit!

Recipe: Vietnamese Chicken Pho - Pho Ga

Lighter in flavor than its beef counterpart but no less lacking in flavor, chicken pho is not given its fair amount of lime light.  I was bribed into giving chicken pho a fair shake when my mom introduced me to young chicken egg.  I love all things related to eggs.  When I was promised several young chicken eggs and nuoc mam to dip my chicken, my interest was piqued..  After I tasted nuoc mam dipped chicken paired with the young eggs and delicate broth my mom spent hours to make, I was sold.  This dish is still as comforting to me as beef pho.

What does young chicken egg look like?

This recipe is memorialized from memory and lack of measuring tools so my apologies in advance for any confusion.

Equipment
12 qt stock pot

Broth
3 yellow onions UNPEELED
2 knob of ginger, UNPEELED
1 daikon
15 star anise, toasted
3 cinnamon sticks, toasted
2 tbsp fennel seeds, toasted
2 tbsp coriander seeds, toasted
2 cardamom pods, toasted
10 cloves, toasted
1 cup fish sauce
2 chunks of yellow rock sugar
2 lbs of chicken (I've found using a fryer chicken yields a gorgeous yellow broth that is quite flavorful but this is personal preference)
Any chicken bones you may have in the freezer, toss 'em in!

Place star anise, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, cardamom pods, and cloves into a cheese cloth after they have been toasted.

1. Turn on oven broiler.  Half the onions and ginger.  Place onions and ginger onto a cookie sheet and slide sheet under broiler.  (The purpose of halving them is so that they don't roll around under the broiler).  Broil for 15 minutes, making sure the onion and ginger becomes charred.  After 15 minutes, remove with tongs and rinse onion and ginger under warm running water.  Rub off the charred skin.  Trim and discard the blackened root and stem ends.  Peel ginger skin.  Make sure all blackened spots are cleaned off.  Bruise the charred ginger lightly with broad side of a knife.  Set onion and ginger aside.

2. Parboil the chicken to release the impurities.  Drain the chicken and wash each to thoroughly remove any impurities still clinging to the chicken.  Clean the stock pot as well.

3. Return chicken and chicken bones back to clean stock pot.  Add the daikon, the cheese cloth of spices, rock sugar, fish sauce, the charred onions and ginger.  Fill the pot with water.  Simmer, uncovered, for 3 hours at a minimum.  

4.  Taste to ensure the broth is seasoned to desire.  Remove all solids and strain the broth.  Allow the broth to cool over night.  A layer of fat will condense.  Remove the fat.

(Note: I used my Le Creuset Dutch Oven to make the broth.  After 3 hours, I turned off the heat and put the lid on and left it like that until it completely cooled.)

Assembly: (simmer broth while you are assembling the bowls)
pho noodles
shredded chicken (I recently discovered that I LOVE using rotisserie chicken meat)
1 yellow onion, sliced paper thin, soaked in cold water
3 or 4 scallions, thinly sliced (I prefer to slice them diagonally because it's more aesthetically pleasing to me)
young chicken eggs
pepper (I prefer white pepper)

Nuoc mam (Vietnamese dipping sauce) - optional

1. Boil pot of water.  Put pho noodles in for about 5 seconds using a strainer, swirling noodles entire time to prevent clinging.  Alternatively, place pho noodles into a strainer that will fit in your pot of boiling water and submerge.  Remove the noodles and make sure water is drained before placing into a big bowl.

2. Top each bowl of noodles with the shredded chicken and young chicken eggs.  Place a mound of yellow onion in the center and garnish diced scallions on top.  Finish with a sprinkle of pepper.

4. Increase the heat of the broth and bring to a ROLLING boil.  Ladle broth into each bowl.Serve immediately.

Alternatively, the chicken can be served on a separate dish alongside the young chicken eggs.  You have the option of dipping the chicken with nuoc mam.  If you're feeling adventurous, you can also add giblets and intestines.

Garnish with Thai basil, culantro, bean sprouts, Thai or Serrano chiles (thinly sliced), hoisin sauce, and or sriracha sauce.  Squeeze lime juice.

Click HERE for my oxtail pho recipe!

Bon appetit mes amis!

Recipe: Vietnamese Grilled Pork and Vermicelli - Bun Thit Nuong

Ingredients
3 lbs of pork butt or pork shoulder, sliced into 1/4 inch thick and 3 inches long
4 - 5 stalks of lemongrass, minced
3 shallots, minced
5 cloves of garlic, minced (adjust to taste)
2 tbsp of honey (my mom swears by honey in marinade)
3 tbsp of fish sauce (I prefer Megachef, the blue bottle)
4 tbsp of sugar
2 tbsp of sesame oil
1 tsp of pepper (I prefer white pepper)
1 tbsp of caramel sauce (nuoc mau)

1 package of vermicelli noodles.  I like to use the following brand:

Herbs
Tia to (red perilla leaves)
Hung lui (mint leaves)
Bean sprouts
Lettuce

Garnish
Cucumbers, diced into matchsticks
Pickled carrots
Pickled daikon
Roasted peanuts
Scallion oil
Fried shallots
Nuoc cham (dipping fish sauce)

1. Combine lemongrass, shallots, garlic, honey, fish sauce, sugar, sesame oil, pepper, and caramel sauce.  Marinate the pork over night (at the least 2 hours)

2. Traditionally, pork is grilled using a grill basket, which can be purchased at Chinese and Vietnamese markets.  However, if you don't have one, you can: grill indoors on a cast iron grill, place the pork under the oven broiler until cooked/charred, or cook the pork in a pan.  These indoor methods just won't yield the same smokey charred taste as the traditional outdoor grill method.

3.  Cook the vermicelli noodles according to the directions on the packaging.  Drain the noodles and let them dry completely!  It should be dry and on the sticky side.

4. In a bowl, place sliced up lettuce leaves, herbs, and bean sprouts.

5.  Put the vermicelli noodles on top of the vegetables.  Top the noodles with the pork.  Garnish with the pickled carrots, daikon, and cucumbers.  Drizzle the scallion oil over the garnish.  Garnish the scallion oil with the fried shallots (this dish is all about layers).  Finally, drizzle nuoc cham over the entire bowl to your desire.

Bon appetit!