Vietnamese Meatball Bánh Mì (Bánh Mì Xíu Mại)
This is probably one of the most underrated styles of bánh mì you can eat. The difference between Vietnamese meatballs (Xíu Mại) versus Italian style is that they are steamed rather than pan fried however they are similarly simmered in a tomato based sauce. Also most traditional recipes call for using jicama or water chestnuts in the fillings, however I've found that using kohlrabi finely diced add a sweet taste and crunchy texture to the meatballs.
Makes- 36 meatballs or 9 bánh mìs, based on 4 balls in each. Please note this is a big batch and I tend to do this so I can freeze half at the same time for future meals. If you want to make less and cater for only 4 people, simply halve the quantities to make 4 bánh mìs or 18 meatballs.
Ingredients- 20+
Cooking time- 1-1.5 hours
Skill Level- Easy
Ingredients
Meatballs
1.5kg pork mince
1 head (approx 10 cloves) garlic, finely chopped
1 red onion, finely diced
Coriander roots from 1 bunch of coriander, optional. The bánh mìs already require a bunch of coriander below, so this is a good way to use up the roots that would ordinarily be discarded. Plus it adds to the flavour of the meatballs.
1 small kohlrabi, outer skin peeled and finely diced. You can omit it if you can’t find it but it’s available at most asian grocers. Other substitutes are jicama or water chestnuts, but I find kohlrabi better as they add a sweet taste and crunchy texture to the meatballs.
3 tablespoons of sesame oil
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
3 tablespoons of oyster sauce
2 tablespoons of fish sauce
2 tablespoons of sugar
Generous pinch of salt and pepper
Sauce
1 bottle (400ml) of Leggo’s Gourmet Rich Passata
1 tablespoon of garlic, finely minced
1 red onion, finely diced
1 tablespoon of fish sauce
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
2 tablespoons of cornstarch/flour or tapioca powder
Bánh Mì Fillings
4-9 bánh mì baguettes, allow 1 p/person
Butter & Pâté, at spreadable room temperature. Store bought is perfectly fine.
1 cucumber sliced into 10cm batons
Vietnamese pickles (Đồ Chua), usually carrots and daikon and can be homemade very easily. I will post a recipe for these this week so you can make them at home.
2-3 stalks of spring onions, cut into 10cm lengths
1 bunch of coriander, roots removed for the meatballs
1-2 fresh red chilli, finely sliced
Method
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For the garlic and onions in this recipe, I usually just use a food chopped to quickly finely dice them separately for both the meatballs and sauce.
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Place pork mince, garlic, onion, kohlrabi, panko breadcrumbs, oyster sauce, fish sauce, sugar, salt and pepper into a large bowl and mix until everything is combined. Add extra seasoning to your taste. If you’d like to check the flavour, I would roll 1 small tablespoon of the meatball mixture, steam it first and taste it first before adjusting the seasoning.
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Roll the meatballs into 50g balls and set aside onto a baking tray/dish.
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Prepare the sauce by heating a large pan with some olive oil. Add in onions and saute for a few minutes until they sweat and become translucent. Add in garlic and cook for another minute until fragrant. Pour in the passata, mix to combine, bring to the boil and allow to simmer on the stove on low whilst you steam the meatballs.
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Fill a wok or large pot with a few cups of water and bring to the boil. You'll need a steamer basket and lid that can sit on top of the wok/pot for steaming as well as a flat lipped bowl that can sit inside the steamer basket for the meatballs to sit inside. Place the meatballs inside the bowl (I fit 15 at a time in mine) with a tiny bit of space in between them. Once the water is boiling, place the bowl of meatballs into the basket and cover with a lid and allow to steam for about 10 minutes or until they turn fully opaque.
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Transfer the meatballs into the pan of simmering sauce and also pour in the residual liquid in the bowl into the sauce. Gently stir the meatballs so they are fully covered in the sauce. Repeat the steaming process until all meatballs have been steamed.
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Prep the remaining fillings for the banh mi whilst the meatballs are steaming. Place the Vietnamese pickles, baguettes, butter and pate into separate bowls. Arrange cucumber, spring onion, coriander and chilli onto a platter and place everything onto the table to be served family style.Season the sauce to taste with fish sauce and soy sauce.
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Combine the cornstarch/tapioca powder with a dash of cold water and mix until you fully dissolved. Pour the mixture into the sauce and stir on medium/high until the sauce begins to thicken and become glossy. You want the sauce to be thick enough to coat the back of your spatula so that it clings to the meatballs too. Turn off the heat once the sauce has thickened.
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Spoon enough meatballs for however many people you are serving (Allow 4 meatballs per bánh mì) into a bowl whilst still hot and place onto the table. From there, everyone at the table can assemble and build their own bánh mì.
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To assemble the bánh mì, cut the baguette open with a knife and spread some butter on the top and pâté on the bottom. Place 4 meatballs into the bread and then add in a slice of cucumber, a few springs of coriander and spring onion, some fresh chilli and then a tablespoon worth of pickles. Then spoon over a bit of the meatball sauce into the bánh mì.
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Enjoy!
Making this for a dinner party?
I would make the meatballs up to step 8 and then store them in the fridge overnight, so then you don't have to stress about making them the day off. You could even prep all the bánh mì fillings and store them in the fridge. The only thing I'd suggest grabbing fresh the day of is the baguettes. I usually go to my local bánh mì shop and buy them, otherwise these supermarket baguettes work well too.
Other serving suggestions
Alternatively, you could also serve the meatballs into a bowl on their own or with some bread on the side to mop up the sauce. This is a typical way that they are served as a Vietnamese breakfast.
Otherwise you could serve the meatballs on top of rice with some steamed veggies or a salad to go with it as an easy ‘one bowl’ meal.
Freezing Notes
You can easily freeze the meatballs by allowing them to fully cool, before transferring the meatballs and some sauce into containers and placing into the freezer. You can reheat them by allowing them to defrost (or using the defrost function on your microwave) and then heating them up again in a small pan or for a few minutes in your microwave until hot.
Toddler Variation
I made my son mini meatball versions that are small enough for him to pick up and eat that he loves. I simply rolled 10g balls (⅕ of the size of the metaballs), steamed them separately as the steam time would be just under 5 minutes for these and then added them to the pan last with the other meatballs. I served them some veggies and rice shaped into balls using a rice baller maker too and he loved this.
I also froze some of these for emergency toddler meals by placing 8 or so mini meatballs with the sauce into some snack sized zip lock bags.
Watch the Process