Banh mi xiu mai from Da Lat takes about an hour. The meatballs are soft but still hold together, the tomato sauce comes right up over them, and hot banh mi does the dipping. The tricky part is meatballs that turn crumbly.
Shredded jicama has to be blanched and then wrung out hard in cheesecloth. Any water left in it leaves the meat loose and crumbly. Breadcrumbs folded into the mixture keep the meatballs tender while holding their shape, and a 300g batch of pork belly feeds four.
This batch weighs about 1.3kg, at roughly 154 calories per 100g.
Method
Rub the pork with salt, rinse it clear, drain it and then grind or chop it fine. Mince the onion and shallot, slice the green parts of the spring onion and mince the white parts. Mince the garlic and fry half of it until golden. Mince the tomato. Tear the banh mi into crumbs.
Shred the jicama finely, blanch it in boiling water until soft, then wrap it in cheesecloth and wring it completely dry.
Mix the pork with 1 chicken egg, half the onion, half the shallot, the fried garlic, 5g pepper, 4.5g kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 5ml sesame oil, 3g salt, 10g seasoning powder, the wrung out jicama and the breadcrumbs.
Rest for 15 to 20 minutes, then roll into bite sized balls and steam until cooked through. Keep the liquid that collects under the meatballs for the sauce.
Set a pan with cooking oil and fry the remaining garlic, shallot and onion until fragrant. Add the tomato and cook until soft, then add 80g tomato sauce, 3g salt, 10g seasoning powder, 5g pepper, 13.5g kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 1 bowl cold water and the liquid from the meatballs, stirring until everything dissolves.
Once the sauce boils, slide in the meatballs and stir gently for a few minutes to heat them through, then turn off the heat. Ladle into bowls, scatter over the cilantro and spring onion and serve hot with banh mi.
Tips
Jicama wrung completely dry, or left in the sun for 10 minutes, keeps the meat from turning loose and crumbly.
The liquid released during steaming carries a lot of flavor and belongs in the sauce.
Breadcrumbs folded into the mixture keep the meatballs tender while holding their shape.
A full 15 to 20 minutes of marinating before rolling gives the seasoning time to work through the meat.
Fry half the garlic golden and mix it into the filling, since leaving it all raw makes the meatballs harsh.
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The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.