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Vietnamese Meatballs - Xiu Mai
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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
Total Time: 1 hour 45 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
  • ¼ 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, chopped
  • 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
  • ¼ 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
  • 1 tsp fish sauce
  • 1 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

Optional to make Banh Mi sandwich:

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

Instructions

  • 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.
  • 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, mix together, and turn heat down to low. Cook for 30 minutes stirring every 5 minutes. Set aside to let it cool.
  • Add all ingredients of the meatballs into a bowl, including caramelized onions and jicama, and mix well.
  • Put in fridge for at least an hour so the mix can set, or if you don’t have time then put in freezer for 15 minutes.  
  • 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 low 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, turn meatballs over, and cook for another 15 minutes. If you feel that the sauce isn’t thick enough, then turn heat to med high and cook until sauce thickens, but make sure that you have some sauce in the pan as it will thicken more once it cools down. Also make sure to scrape the bottom as that’s where all the yumminess is at. 
  • 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: 728kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 57g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g | Monounsaturated Fat: 32g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 123mg | Sodium: 631mg | Potassium: 876mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 678IU | Vitamin C: 21mg | Calcium: 97mg | Iron: 3mg

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