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Vietnamese Meatballs | Xiu Mai

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By: Cindy Lam Lorimer
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 4 (Each serving is 3 meatballs)
Xiu Mai is a Vietnamese dish featuring tender, juicy meatballs made of ground pork, cooked in a flavorful tomato-based sauce, and typically served with baguette or over rice.

Ingredients 

Meatballs:

  • ¼ cup shallots, thinly sliced
  • 1/4 cup avocado oil, or any neutral oil, for frying shallots
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 green onions, white part only, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1 cup jicama, peeled, shred julienned, squeeze water out, then chop (1 cup is before squeezing the water out)
  • 1 lb ground pork
  • 1 slice toasted bread, crust trimmed off, crumbled
  • 1 tsp tapioca starch
  • 1 pinch sugar
  • 1 pinch black pepper
  • 1 tsp fish sauce
  • 1 egg
  • 1 Tbsp mushroom powder
  • 1 Tbsp sesame oil
  • 1/4 cup avocado oil, or any neutral oil, for frying the meatballs

Sauce:

  • 1 large shallot, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • ½ cup ketchup
  • 1 whole tomato, chopped
  • 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
  • 2 tsp fish sauce
  • 2 tsp Maggi, or soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 2 tsp hoisin sauce
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • 4 star anise
  • 4 whole cloves
  • 1 cinnamon stick

Thickener:

  • 1 Tbsp cornstarch
  • 1/4 cup water

Optional to make Banh Mi sandwich:

  • French baguette
  • butter
  • mayonnaise
  • cilantro sprigs
  • jalapenos
  • cucumber
  • pickled carrots and daikon
  • green papaya, julienned

Instructions

Fried Shallots:

  • In a small saucepan on medium high heat, add ¼ cup oil and fry the shallots until they are nice and light brown.
  • Remove shallots from oil and place on a paper lined plate. Once shallots are dry they will become crunchy. Save oil for later use.

Caramelized Onion Mix:

  • In a large skillet, on medium high heat, add oil from fried shallots along with 2 Tbsp cooking oil and saute onions, white of green onions and garlic for one minute.
  • Then add jicama and mix together then turn heat down to medium low. Cook for 25 minutes stirring occasionally. Set aside to let it cool.

Meatballs:

  • Add all ingredients of the meatballs into a bowl, including caramelized onions and jicama, and mix well.
  • Put in fridge for at least 15 minutes so the mix can set.
  • When making the meatballs, I actually find that an ice cream scooper works very well and creates a perfect size. Scoop meatballs with ice cream scooper and shape them into balls.
  • In a large saucepan on medium heat, add ¼ cup cooking oil and fry the meatballs until they have a nice light brown color on all sides.
  • Remove from pan and set aside.
  • In the same saucepan on medium high heat, add shallots and garlic and stir fry for a minute until onions soften.
  • Add the rest of the sauce ingredients and the meatballs.
  • Bring it to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.
  • After 15 minutes, remove the lid and turn meatballs over.
  • Add the thickener by mixing cornstarch with water and pour the mix into the meatball sauce and stir it gently.
  • Let it cook on medium high heat for another 15 minutes. Skimming scum as needed.
  • Serve meatballs with a french baguette to make banh mi. You can either dip the bread into the sauce, or create a sandwich with the baguette by buttering the bread and adding mayonnaise, cilantro, jalapenos, cucumbers, pickled daikon and carrots, and green papaya (optional).

Nutrition

Serving: 1portion | Calories: 742kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 28g | Fat: 57g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g | Monounsaturated Fat: 32g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 123mg | Sodium: 987mg | Potassium: 889mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 678IU | Vitamin C: 21mg | Calcium: 99mg | Iron: 3mg

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