Vietnamese-style Pork and Chicken Meatloaf Bánh Mì
My Vietnamese-style Pork and Chicken Meatloaf Bánh Mì is an adaptation of Helen Goh's Chicken and Lemongrass Meatloaf recipe, published in the Sydney Morning Herald, Good Weekend, 10 September 2018. I loved the Vietnamese flavours of Helen's recipe but my rendition of it failed miserably. The sriracha-glazed meatloaf fell apart the moment I attempted to slice it. I'm convinced this had nothing to do with Helen's recipe and everything to do with the moisture content of the supermarket chicken mince I'd used. I didn't return to the recipe until I acquired—and started to pour over—J Kenji López-Alt's celebrated tome The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science. Kenji's dissertations on meatloaf and meatballs brought my failed chicken and lemongrass meatloaf back to mind.
Equipment
- Microplane or spice grinder or personal blender (for preparing aromatics)
- 22 x 12 x 7cm non-stick loaf pan
- Rimmed baking sheet
- Instant read thermometer
- Digital kitchen scales
- Pastry brush
- 500ml sealed jar
Ingredients
Pork and chicken meatloaf:
- 500 g chicken mince
- 500 g pork mince (15% fat)
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 200 ml milk
- 30 g powdered gelatine
- 3 slices good quality white bread
- 1 large brown onion
- 1 large long red chili
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- 2 stalks lemongrass
- 2 large garlic cloves
- 1 small bunch fresh coriander (stalks only)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons white sugar
- Ground white pepper
Sriracha palm sugar glaze:
- 6 tablespoons sriracha
- 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 4 tablespoons palm sugar
- 3 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 4 tablespoons sesame seeds
Quick pickled carrot and celery:
- 1 large carrot
- 1 large celery stick
- ¼ cup white sugar
- 1 tablespoon table salt
- 250 ml rice wine vinegar
- 125 ml water
To assemble the Bánh Mì:
- 6 mini baguettes
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 4-6 baby cucumbers
- 4-6 red chillies
- 1 cup salad leaves
- Small bunch fresh coriander (leaves only)
- Small bunch fresh mint
- Small bunch basil
Instructions
Pork and chicken meatloaf:
- Combine 500g chicken mince, 500g pork mince, 1 tablespoon fish sauce, 1 tablespoon light soy sauce, and ½ teaspoon table salt in a large bowl. Mix well by hand—at this stage the salt and fish sauce begin to build the structure of the meatloaf. Refrigerate until required.
- Sprinkle 30g powdered gelatine over 200ml milk and leave to bloom.
- Remove crusts from 3 slices of good quality white bread. Tear roughly and pulse in a personal blender or small food processor until crumbed. Set aside.
Prepare the loaf pan:
- Grease a 22 x 12 x 7cm non-stick loaf pan with neutral oil and line the long sides and bottom with a baking paper 'sling'.
Prepare the aromatics:
- Peel and roughly chop the lemongrass, discarding the outer layers and the top of the stalk. Blitz in a spice grinder, or grate using a Microplane—freezing the stalks first makes grating easier.
- Add to the spice grinder: 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger, 1 deseeded and chopped red chilli, and the washed and chopped coriander stalks. Blitz together. Crush 2 large garlic cloves and add to the mixture. Set aside.
Cook the onion and aromatics:
- Finely chop 1 large brown onion and cook over medium heat in a small pot with a little oil until softened.
- Add the bloomed gelatine mixture and stir continuously until reduced by half.
- Add the aromatics and cook for a few more minutes until fragrant. Remove from heat, stir through the breadcrumbs, and cool to room temperature.
Finish the meatloaf filling:
- Beat 2 large eggs with 2 teaspoons white sugar and ½ teaspoon freshly ground white pepper. Add the cooled aromatic breadcrumb mixture and combine thoroughly.
- Add the egg and breadcrumb mixture to the ground meat. Using your hands, bring the two together without overworking—some streaks of the egg mixture through the meat is exactly right.
- Pack the meatloaf mixture into the lined pan, pressing gently to avoid air pockets. Level the top with a spatula.
- Seal tightly with aluminium foil, crimping around the rim. Place a piece of baking paper between the mixture and the foil if the mixture is close to the top of the pan.
- Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
Sriracha palm sugar glaze:
- Combine 6 tablespoons sriracha, 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger, 2 tablespoons fish sauce, 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice, 4 tablespoons palm sugar, and 3 tablespoons light soy sauce in a small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside.
- Toast 4 tablespoons sesame seeds in a dry frying pan over medium to low heat, stirring continuously. Remove the moment they turn golden—they burn quickly.
- Both the glaze and toasted sesame seeds can be prepared ahead and stored—the glaze refrigerated, the seeds at room temperature in a sealed container.
Quick pickled carrot and celery:
- Cut 1 large peeled carrot and 1 large celery stick into 7mm batons. Place in a bowl, sprinkle over ¼ cup white sugar and 1 tablespoon table salt, and massage by hand until dissolved.
- Transfer to a 500ml sealed jar, add 250ml rice wine vinegar and 125ml water, seal and shake. Refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours or overnight.
Baking the meatloaf:
- Preheat oven to 165°C fan forced, rack in the centre. Place the foil-sealed loaf pan directly from the fridge into the oven.
- After 30 minutes, remove from the oven and take off the foil. Invert the meatloaf onto a baking paper lined rimmed baking sheet. Continue to bake uncovered until the internal temperature reaches 60°C, approximately another 30 minutes.
- Pour off any excess cooking juices. Move rack to the top third of the oven and increase temperature to 260°C fan forced.
- Baste generously with the sriracha palm sugar glaze and return to the oven. Baste 3 more times, removing every 2-3 minutes. Aim for a deeply coloured, lacquered finish.
- Remove from the oven and sprinkle over the toasted sesame seeds.
Assembling the Bánh Mì:
- Cut 6 mini baguettes from the top down, leaving the base intact. Spread mayonnaise generously on both cut sides.
- Slice the meatloaf into 1.5-2cm slices and lay along the base of each roll.
- Top with drained pickled carrot and celery, fresh baby cucumber slices, red chilli, salad leaves, coriander, mint, and basil.
- Serve immediately.
Just before you cook with abandon…
Get organised—mise en place: I'm an adherent to the French cooking principle of mise en place—everything in its place. Having your ingredients and equipment ready before you start isn't just for professional kitchens; it's how you keep home cooking calm and consistent. Measuring, prepping and setting everything out before the first step is the difference between cooking and chaos.
Digital kitchen scales: This recipe uses weight measurements for the mince and gelatine. A digital kitchen scale ensures accuracy, particularly for the gelatine—too little and the meatloaf won't hold its structure; too much and the texture becomes unpleasant.
Lemongrass: The most time-consuming part of this recipe is breaking down the lemongrass. Freezing the stalks before you start—even for an hour—makes grating on a Microplane significantly easier and faster. A spice grinder is my preferred method for a fine result without the effort of a mortar and pestle.
Gelatine: Its inclusion here is not a health trend gesture—it's straight from Kenji López-Alt, The Food Lab, pp. 527-529. Gelatine increases the moisture retention of the meatloaf mixture as it cooks, ensuring the final result is both tender and moist.
Palm sugar: If palm sugar isn't in your pantry, dark brown sugar is a perfectly acceptable substitute—it won't have quite the same depth, but it'll do the job.
A note on the pickled vegetables: Traditional Bánh Mì pickled vegetables are Đồ Chua—pickled daikon and carrot. I substitute celery when daikon isn't available, and both work well. If you want a more traditional result, swap the celery for daikon cut into the same 7mm batons.
Make ahead: Both the meatloaf mixture and the pickled vegetables can be prepared the night before—the meatloaf refrigerated in the loaf pan ready to bake, the pickles in their jar in the fridge. The sriracha palm sugar glaze and toasted sesame seeds can also be done ahead. This is a genuinely great make-ahead meal.
Freezing: The cooked and glazed meatloaf freezes well. Slice before freezing, store in an airtight container with baking paper between the slices, and defrost overnight in the fridge. The assembled Bánh Mì does not freeze—assemble only what you plan to eat.