Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Vietnamese Meatballs (Xíu Mại)

I made xíu mại based on this recipe.  There were so many out there, and most are similar, but I liked the proportions of the ingredients in this recipe.  However, my husband thought there was too much onion.  Maybe it was my fault, because I didn't follow the recipe that closely.  Or I used a lot of shallots, and it might be more pungent than regular onion.



To make the meatballs
1 lb ground pork
2 eggs
1 medium jícama, julienned
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp mushroom seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup minced shallots
1/2 Tbsp (~3 cloves) minced garlic
1/4 cup (6-8 stalks) chopped green onions, only green part.

Blanch julienned jicama in boiling water until wilted.  Drain.  Squeeze out water.  Chop the jicama into bits. You should have about 2 cups, more or less.

Mix the chopped jicama, ground pork, eggs, sugar, black pepper, mushroom seasoning, salt, minced shallots, minced garlic, chopped green onion.  Mix well.  Form into bite-sized balls.


Steam for 10 minutes.



To make the tomato sauce
3 tablespoon oil
1/4 cup minced shallot
1/2 - 1 Tbsp (~5 cloves) minced garlic
6-8 green onion, white part, finely chopped.
3 ripe tomatoes, squeeze out seeds, chopped.
2 cups (14.5 oz can) chicken broth.
1 Tbsp fish sauce
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp corn starch + 2 Tbsp water, make a slurry.  ]

Heat oil.  Saute minced shallot, garlic and green onion until fragrant.  Add tomatoes, chicken broth, fish sauce, sugar, salt and water released from steaming meatballs.

Bring to boil, simmer.  Add corn starch slurry to thicken sauce.  Add meatballs.  Simmer for 5 minutes.









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