Is there anything more comforting than a meatball? They're so versatile; you can eat them as an appetizer, in a sandwich, over your favorite pasta or rice, and for any meal! These Vietnamese Meatballs, or xíu mại, are made with pork and shrimp. They are so tender, with a subtle crunch from the addition of jicama.
These can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner. They're actually typically eaten for breakfast in Vietnam! Xíu mại taste great with a baguette to dip into the tangy fresh tomato sauce. You can also make a bánh mì with them, with some crunch cucumber, pickled daikon/carrot and cilantro. I like to call it a Vietnamese meatball sub.
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🥘 Ingredients
You will need:
- 450g (1 lb) ground pork, 80% lean 20% fat recommended
- 125g (5oz) shrimp, peeled, deveined and finely minced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 small shallot, minced (about 1 tbsp)
- 4-5 cloves garlic (about 1 tbsp)
- 150g (5 oz or ¾ cup) finely diced jicama
- panko bread crumbs
- 2 large tomatoes (about 600-650g, or 1 ½-2 lbs)
- 1 ½ cups chicken broth
🔪 Instructions
Bring a pot, wok or steamer of water to boil while you mix and shape the meatballs.
🍖 Make and steam the meatballs
Gently mix together the ground pork, shrimp, jicama, salt, pepper, fish sauce, shallot, garlic and bread crumbs until just combined. Be careful not to overmix this as it will result in a tougher meatball texture.
Shape the mixture into golf ball sized meatballs with lightly oiled hands. You can also use a tablespoon or a small scoop. Feel free to make the meatballs larger or smaller depending on what you want to eat them with.
Arrange the meatballs in a heat-safe plate or tray and steam them until just cooked. This will take about 15 to 20 minutes for golf-ball sized meatballs. They will release some liquid while they steam. Keep this to make the sauce.
🍅 Make the sauce
While the xíu mại are steaming, make the sauce. Bring a small pot of water to boil and carefully place the tomatoes in for about 30 seconds, or until the skin easily peels back. Peel the skin back and blend them until smooth.
In a heavy-bottomed with a little bit of oil, heat the tomato puree over medium heat until a rich red color develops.
When you're happy with the color of the tomatoes, add 2 cups of chicken broth or water.
Once the xíu mại are ready, take them out of the steamer and carefully add them to the tomato sauce, along with any liquid that they may have released.
Season with more salt and pepper to taste.
💭 Tips and Substitutions
- I recommend finding ground pork with a little bit of fat in it for the best texture in your Vietnamese meatballs. 80% fat 20% lean works.
- If you cannot find jicama at the grocery store, you can use canned water chestnuts to get the same effect. I wouldn't recommend omitting this entirely as it adds moisture as well as a subtle crunch to the meatball.
- If you don't have the proper equipment to steam the meatballs, you can bake or pan fry them before adding to the tomato sauce. I find that the texture of the steamed meatballs is the most tender.
- You can use regular breadcrumbs if you don't have panko crumbs. Panko crumbs will result in a more tender meatball, though.
- For a thicker, chunkier sauce, do not peel and puree the tomatoes. Just dice them up and fry them in oil until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add less chicken broth to the sauce to get the sauce consistency you like.
🍚 Serving suggestions
Xíu mại is usually eaten with bread, either ripped up and dipped into the tomato sauce or as a sandwich. Try them in a Vietnamese baguette with cilantro, cucumber and pickled daikon and radish. Vietnamese meatballs also taste great over rice. They'd be a fun appetizer if you make smaller meatballs as well.
🥡 How to store or make in advance
You can freeze the xíu mại mixture before cooking or roll them into meatballs mixture and freeze for up to six months. Defrost and steam them when you are ready to eat. The tomato sauce can be made and stored in an airtight container for up to six months.
Once cooked, store in the refrigerator for up to a week.
👪 Serving size
This recipe makes enough for four sandwiches. It's easily doubled or tripled to feed a crowd.
📋 Recipe
Vietnamese Meatballs (Xíu Mại)
Equipment
- Bambo Steamer or Steamer Basket
Ingredients
- 450 g ground pork (about 1 lb, 80% lean 20% fat recommended)
- 125 g shrimp, peeled, deveined and finely minced (about 5 oz or ¼ cup)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 small shallot, minced (about 1 tbsp)
- 4-5 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tbsp)
- 150 g jicama, finely diced (about 5 oz or ½ cup)
- 30 g panko bread crumbp (about ⅓ cup)
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 2 medium tomatoes (about 600-650g, or 1½-2 lbs)
- 1½ cup chicken broth or water (about 350 ml or 12 fluid oz)
Instructions
- Gently mix together the ground pork, shrimp, jicama, salt, pepper, fish sauce, shallot, garlic and bread crumbs until just combined. Be careful not to overmix this as it will result in a tougher meatball texture.
- Shape the mixture into 16 golf ball sized meatballs with lightly oiled hands. You can also use a tablespoon or a small scoop. Feel free to make the meatballs larger or smaller depending on what you want to eat them with.
- Arrange the meatballs in a heat-safe plate or tray and steam them until just cooked. This will take about 15-20 minutes for golf-ball sized meatballs. They will release some liquid while they steam. Keep this to make the sauce.
- While the xíu mại are steaming, make the sauce. Bring a small pot of water to boil and carefully place the tomatoes in for about 30 seconds, or until the skin easily peels back. Peel the skin back and blend them until smooth.
- In a heavy-bottomed with a little bit of oil, heat the tomato puree over medium heat until a rich red color develops and the tomato puree has thickened. If you drag a spatula across the bottom of the pot, you should be able to see the bottom for a second before the sauce pools back down.
- When you're happy with the color of the tomatoes, add 1 cup of chicken broth or water.
- Once the xíu mại are ready, take them out of the steamer and carefully add them to the tomato sauce, along with any liquid that they may have released.
- Season with more salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
- I recommend finding ground pork with a little bit of fat in it for the best texture in your Vietnamese meatballs. 80% fat 20% lean works.
- If you cannot find jicama at the grocery store, you can use canned water chestnuts to get the same effect. I wouldn't recommend omitting this entirely as it adds moisture as well as a subtle crunch to the meatball.
- If you don't have the proper equipment to steam the meatballs, you can bake or pan fry them before adding to the tomato sauce. I find that the texture of the steamed meatballs is the most tender.
- You can use regular breadcrumbs if you don't have panko crumbs. Panko crumbs will result in a more tender meatball, though.
- For a thicker, chunkier sauce, do not peel and puree the tomatoes. Just dice them up and fry them in oil until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add less chicken broth to the sauce to get the sauce consistency you like.
Nutrition
🏋️ Nutrition Info
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Tough Cookie
Can I substitute the whole cooking tomato puree with tomato paste? If yes, how much paste do I use?
Suzanne Nuyen
Hello! I would recommend using something like a tomato sauce or tomato puree so that it's more liquidy. Tomato paste is very concentrated and you'll have to dilute it to get the same brothy consistency you see in this recipe. I've never tried it with tomato paste so I can't tell you for sure how much to use.
Celia
This is pretty good. I made this today and didn’t think my daughter would eat it. And she ate it with rice, I made the sauce more soupy. I added 1 extra cup of chicken broth and some sugar and chicken bouillon to the tomato’s. I also sautéed the tomatoes with shallots too. It was really good and the meatballs were super juicy!
Suzanne Nuyen
Thank you for the kind review Celia! I'm so glad you kids liked it. This was a huge hit for me when I was a kid too. I loved dipping pieces of bread into the sauce. Adding shallots and extra bouillon to the sauce sounds like a delicious adaptation.