Vietnamese Meatball Buns with a Spicy Tomato Sauce

I’ve been experimenting with meatballs lately. I had some ground turkey and I wanted to make some Vietnamese flavoured ones; ideally they would have gone better with pork, but I only had turkey! They turned out fantastic! I really loved them. They’re basically my take on a bánh mì sandwich. Of course I also didn’t have any baguette either, but I had buns and it worked!! The flavours were all there. I even pickled some carrots and cucumber to give it an extra crunch, since the meatballs are soft. Top with fresh chillies and coriander you’ve got yourself a massive punch of flavour! As an added bonus I’m including the recipe for the spicy tomato sauce I made to go on the bread, if you’re feeling up to it turns into a delicious thick ketchup type of sauce, thick and glorious, wonderful on many things! This recipe can serve 2-3 depending on how many meatballs you make. I got 18 small meatballs out of this, and can fit about six in a sandwich. Enjoy!

My take on a bánh mì!

Ingredients:
250g turkey breast mince
1 small red onion
1 chilli (or half depending on how hot they are)
1 tbsp. freshly grated ginger
2 garlic cloves also grated to a puree
1 spring onion
Small handful fresh coriander
Dash sesame oil
1-2 tbsp. soy sauce
50g bread crumbs soaked in a little milk
1 egg white

To start: (If you’re making the sauce, I would recommend starting that first; see bottom)
Dice finely, small red onion, chilli, coriander and spring onion.
Grate the ginger and garlic into a paste.
In a bowl, mix together minced turkey, soy sauce, sesame oil, bread crumbs, egg white and diced vegetables including ginger and garlic.
Mix thoroughly; hands are best here!

To Cook:
I used a non-stick skillet so I’m able to not use oil, if you’re using oil, only use a tablespoon or two to get it done.
Get the pan on high heat, while it’s heating make your meatballs.
It helps me if you get your hands wet before you dive into the mixture to make the balls.
Form into small 1-2 inch balls and set aside.
When the pan is hot, set them down and fry to get a good colour on them.
Try not to turn them before they’ve got the proper brown color because they’ll just stick and pull apart.
I like to put a bit of water in the pan and cover with a tight lid for a few minutes until they’re done.
Since they are small they will cook really fast.
When they’re done pop some sauce on a bun and get them in your tummy!

Note:
If you would like to pickle some vegetables to go with the sandwich all you need is the 1:1 ratio sugar to white vinegar. I use slightly less sugar because I prefer the punch of the vinegar.
Heat up the sugar vinegar mixture until the sugar is dissolved.
Slice some vegetables like carrot, cucumber, chillies and red onion finely and place in the solution and sit for about 20-30 minutes. Enjoy!


Spicy Asian Tomato Sauce

To be honest, I know that tomato isn’t a base for many sauces in Asian cuisine but I wanted to make a thick bbq like sauce. This is dead simple, all you have to do is dump all of these ingredients into a pan, bring up to a boil and simmer for about an hour until it’s thick and syrupy.

Ingredients:
1 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp. hoisin sauce
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. fish sauce
3 tbsp. honey
1 onion diced
3 cloves garlic diced or grated
1 knob ginger grated to a paste
1 tbsp. Chinese five spice
½ tsp. red chilli flakes (I used the hot Korean kind)

Phở Bò (Beef Pho)

This is one of my favourite Vietnamese dishes, and I decided that I had to make it, I used a recipe and edited it to my liking. This is a very tedious dish that can take hours, but the results are completely worth it! It is a heart-warming Vietnamese soup that will sooth your soul. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
2kg beef bones
2 large pots for boiling water
2 large onions – skin on
1-2 large pieces of ginger –split in half
1 tsp. cloves
4 cardamom pods
2 4 inch cinnamon sticks
Handful star anise
50mls fish sauce (2/3 cup)
3-4 tbsp palm sugar
2 tsp salt
300-500g sirloin steak (or adjust per servings)
Rice vermicelli noodles

Garnish:
Bean sprouts
Limes
Coriander
Mint
Chillies
Thinly sliced red onion soaked in water
Hoisin sauce
Siracha sauce

To Start:
Bring to a boil two large pots full of water.
Once one pot is boiling, put the bones in and boil for 10-15 minutes to par boil or clean them.
While the bones are boiling split the onions in half along with the ginger (very rough) Put them under the grill in the oven until they get a nice char.
Once your bones have boiled for 10-15 minutes drain the water and rinse them off.

To continue to cook:
Add the rinsed bones to the second boiling pot of water (you can skip this two pot part but it’s better to have a pot of water ready boiling once the bones are clean)
Add the charred onions, and ginger.
Add the rest of the spices, cinnamon, cloves, star anise, fish sauce, cardamom pods. (save salt for last).
Simmer at a low heat for 8-10 hrs. (Overnight works best, but I would wake up and add more water and check on it if needed)

To finish:
Strain the mixture into the second pot over a cheese cloth. Until you have a nice clear broth.
Bring the broth back to a boil and immediately pour over thinly sliced steak pieces, cover with cooked rice noodle and garnish with desired garnishes.

Bun Thit Nuong (Vietnamese Grilled Pork with Vermicelli)

This is my all-time favorite Vietnamese dish. I scour every city I am in to find an equivalent that matches the dish I love. I decided I was going to give it a go and try it myself. I took a recipe I read an adapted it to what I wanted in my dish. It’s a pretty time consuming dish so make sure you have some time to devote to it. The results are well worth it. This serves 2.

Ingredients:
250-300g (½ lb.) pork shoulder or rump. (The cheap frying steaks)
4 spring onions
2 cloves of garlic
2 chillies
1 lime
3 carrots
1 tbsp. jarred lemon grass
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. fish sauce
Iceberg lettuce finely shredded
1 cucumber
Coriander (handful)
Mint (handful)
Crushed peanuts
Oil for frying
Salt and pepper to taste
Fish Sauce for serving (recipe follows)

To start:
Put your pork in the freezer for 30 minutes for easy thin slicing.
Finely slice carrot into strips or grate, shred lettuce, chop up coriander, mint and finely slice cucumber into strips. (Set aside).
Dice spring onions, garlic, chilli peppers.

Next:
When the pork is firm to the touch in the freezer, slice it as thinly as you can and place in a large bowl.
To the bowl add spring onions, garlic, chili peppers, lemon grass, sugar fish sauce lime juice marinate for 30 minutes in the fridge.

To Continue:
While that is marinating, bring a large pot of water to boil.
Blanch the carrots in the water and take out and place in ice water, being careful to save the water (Blanch means to lightly cook for a short period of time). In and out.
Put the vermicelli noodles into a large bowl and pour the boiling liquid over and sit for about 10 minutes until plumped.

To cook:
Heat a pan with the oil until the oil is smoking. (I prefer using a cast iron skillet for this)
Take the marinated meat and flash fry in the pan for about 5-8 minutes until the color is a charred type rustic grilled color. (There might be a lot of water you have to burn off before this)

To Serve:
Place the noodles on a plate or large bowl and layer with the coriander, mint, bean sprouts, blanched carrots, and peanuts.
Dress with the fish sauce (recipe below).

Fish Sauce:
I make this in a plastic seal tight container so that I can keep the extra. I kept this recipe exactly as I read it online as I really love the sauce and wanted it to be authentic.

Ingredients:
¼ c. water
¼ c. fish sauce
3 tbsp. lime juice
2 tbsp. unseasoned rice vinegar
2 tbsp. sugar
1 garlic clove crushed
1 chili pepper sliced in rounds
1 carrot shredded or finely sliced

To Make:
Mix together all of the ingredients and mix until the sugar is dissolved.
You can adjust sugar and lime juice as needed to even out the flavor.
Make before you make your meal so the flavors can melt together.