Looking for the rest of the Superabundant newsletter?
Subscribe now to get original recipes, PNW food news, and ideas for the kitchen and garden!
Repurposing stale bread may be one of my culinary special interests, but even I get tired of same-old casseroles and brown betties.
Tuscan panzanella is another classic (turns out the legume-loving mangiafagioli know their way around an old loaf of bread just as well as a pot of beans) but what if you went in a totally different direction — somewhere between grilled bánh mì nướng muối ớt and a bread salad?
With its rich beef stews and pâté-smeared baguette sandwiches, Vietnamese cooking reflects a long influence of global (especially) French cuisine, but Italian food doesn’t seem to have been filtered through the same Vina lens. One dish, a pork meatball-stuffed fried tofu stewed in tomato sauce (Đậu Hủ Nhồi Thịt Sốt Cà Chua), is the closest thing to Italian that comes to mind.
This is basically a chicken version of bún chả Hà Nội but with thick slabs of buttery grilled baguette instead of rice vermicelli for soaking up all that delicious nuoc cham. The grill and herbs do most of the heavy lifting, flavor-wise. Serves 4
Note: If you aren’t growing your own Southeast Asian herbs, here’s another nudge to do it! With the exception of the cilantro, all of the herbs (including the lemongrass) in this recipe can be started from cuttings in a glass of water.
Ingredients
Chicken meatballs
1 piece dried wood ear mushroom
2 stalks lemongrass
1 pound ground chicken
1 tablespoon roasted rice powder
2 tablespoons minced shallot
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon fish sauce
½ teaspoon ground white pepper
A few pinches of salt and MSG
Do chua (pickles)
1 medium carrot, peeled and julienned (about ½ cup)
1 small daikon radish or kohlrabi, peeled and julienned (about ½ cup)
¼ cup rice vinegar
¼ cup sugar
½ cup water
Nuoc cham (dipping sauce)
1 cup warm water
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon rice, coconut or sugar cane vinegar
Juice from half a lime
For serving
1 baguette, sliced 1-inch thick
Butter
Bunches of fresh herbs such as Thai basil, perilla, cilantro, rau răm, leaves picked (about 4 cups total)
Do chua
Thinly sliced jalapeños and cucumbers (optional)
Instructions
- Soak the wood ear mushroom in warm water until softened, about 5 minutes, then drain and finely mince. Remove the tough outer leaves from the lemongrass (save these for broth) and finely mince the tender interior.
- Mix the mushroom and lemongrass with the remaining chicken meatball ingredients in a bowl until well combined, then cover and stash in the fridge to marinate for 2 hours.
- Place the do chua ingredients in a jar with a lid and give it a shake to mix and dissolve the sugar. Let it sit at room temperature for 2 hours.
- In a small bowl, mix the nuoc cham ingredients and set aside.
- Divide the meat mixture into 12 slightly flattened meatballs. Heat up a grill (if using a gas grill, throw a foil pouch of wood chips on for smoky flavor) and cook the patties on both sides until you’ve got some good char marks and a thermometer inserted in the middle reads 160 F, about 3-5 minutes on each side. Remove the meatballs from the grill and set aside on a plate to rest for a few minutes, loosely draped in foil.
- While the meatballs are resting, give the sliced baguette a generous smear of butter and grill until well-toasted, about 3-5 minutes on each side.
- Assemble the herbs and pickles on a platter with the bowl of nuoc cham, the grilled baguette and meatballs, and serve family-style.