Pork Meatball Bánh Mì

Gosh!  As I start to post this, I realize that it has been a very long time since I posted anything on this blog.  A little more often, I tend to post to a Facebook page also called Jim's Place for Food and Booze where this will ultimately also show up.  This recipe is special, though, so here I am.


Bánh Mì are spicy Vietnamese sandwiches that are full of fresh crunchy vegetables and yummy meats. This is a version with pork meatballs which Kathy and I think is very good, but I can almost guarantee that it will vary a bit each time I make it in the future.

I am only slightly embarrassed to say that I "borrowed" the photo above from the internet.  This photo looks something like what I made yesterday (except that mine was messier).  But I had no expectations when I was cooking that I would convert my effort to a post, so I never thought of taking a photo.  I do have leftover meatballs, though, so I will get around to making this again soon and will replace the photo then  Update:  I found a photo I took the first time I tried Bánh Mì back in November.  Not the exact one that I made from the recipe below, but close, and I like my own picture better than the one I had borrowed...

I made this recipe up the way I do most of my cooking -- I look at a number of recipes and then just do what I feel like.  For this one, I relied on one I found on the King Arthur Flour site, and another one from the Lardo food truck in Portland, Oregon that was posted on the Eat St. web site.  (The King Arthur site is a favorite of mine for both flour and supplies, and for recipes. And I know even though I have not been there yet that I will have to seek out Lardo the next time I am in Portland.)

The recipe that follows is not spicy enough for Leslie and Joe, and probably a bit too spicy for Lisa and (our other) Joe.  But if you make it, you will know how much spice you like, and it will be good however you want to adjust it.

Pork Meatball Bánh Mì

Yield: 4 good-sized sandwiches

Ingredients MEATBALLS 1 lb ground pork 1 Tbs sriracha 1 Tbs fish sauce 1 Tbs sugar 6 scallions, chopped 1 large egg 1/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs 1 1/2 tsp salt SALAD 3 large carrots, grated 12 small radishes, grated (same volume as carrots) 3 Tbs rice vinegar 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 tsp salt 1 Tbs sesame oil SRIRACHA MAYO 1 cup mayonnaise 4 scallions, thinly sliced 1 Tbs sriracha (more for Chithors and Elbles) 1/4 tsp sesame oil SANDWICHES baguettes, enough for 4 pieces 8"-9" long 4 jalapeño peppers, seeded and cut into bite sized pieces 6 inch piece of English cucumber, thinly sliced 1 bunch fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped

How to Make For the meatballs: Mix together all ingredients. Only use enough Panko to bind the mixture without drying it out or making it heavy. Form 1" meatballs with damp hands. You should make about 24 meatballs, enough for 6 meatballs for each sandwich. Sear in a pan until golden brown on all sides. Place in a baking dish, and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until the meatballs’ internal temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit, approximately 20 minutes. For the salad: Combine all ingredients and set aside.   For the sriracha mayo: Mix ingredients together. You can adjust the amount of sriracha sauce to your desired level of spiciness. For the sandwiches: Slice the baguette pieces part way through and spread open. Spread the sriracha mayo on both sides, add a layer of cucumber slices, then top with meatballs, salad, jalapeno chunks, and a generous amount of cilantro.

Author: Jim Thoreen Source: Adapted from a recipe found on the King Arthur Flour web site, and one from the Lardo food truck in Portland, Oregon, which was posted on the Eat St. web site. See links, below.

Notes You may choose to use daikon radish in the salad, which is more traditional, but harder to find in rural America. I actually prefer red radishes to daikon, though. I found Sky Valley Sriracha Sauce at a Whole Foods Market. It tastes very good, and is not filled with all the usual chemicals found in most commercial brands. Learn more about it, and where else you can buy it, at http://organicvillefoods.com/products/condiments/sriracha-sauce/ A good recipe at http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/bnh-m-recipe started my at-home exploration of Bánh Mì . The King Arthur Flour company is a favorite of mine for both their flours and supplies, and their recipes. The Lardo food truck, and now restaurants, in Portland, Oregon look like must-go destinations if you are lucky enough to be in that city. Their Bánh Mì recipe is posted at http://eatst.foodnetwork.ca/tvshow/recipe/133/pork-meatball-banh-mi/

Slaw with Cucumber and Jicama

I don't think it is possible to use an entire jicama at one time, so I ended up with half of one that needed to be used.  I also had some other miscellaneous partly used veggies in the fridge.  This is the resulting slaw.


Cabbage, jicama, cucumber, red bell peppers and red onion.  Dressing of rice vinegar, a tiny bit of agave nectar  (used because I am told it does better things to your system than refined white cane sugar), some olive oil, and a bit of salt.


As an aside, the oil is from the olive business that has been developing over the last several years right here in the Texas Hill Country.  And while I think some people from Texas tend to brag about their state just a bit too much (especially about its politics), I have to say the olive oil here could stand up to just about anything from Italy, Spain, or California.


This slaw should go well with the Los Angeles food truck carne asada that I am going to try this afternoon. It is a Korean-Mexican fusion recipe that you can read on the NY Times. (see the link)  Interesting article even if you think the recipe sounds odd, although I am betting the recipe will be a keeper.   

Passenger Cocktail

The only thing you probably need to know about the Passenger Cocktail is that it is so good that it almost made Kathy like gin.  Almost.

I had this in Austin at Perla's Seafood and Oyster Bar on South Congress in Austin.  Outstanding place to eat.  Right next to Hotel San Jose (expensive), and a block or so from the Austin Motel (cheap), both great places to stay when you are in Austin.

You will note that there is no mint in this picture.  I didn't have any today when I took the picture. The Passenger Cocktail is much better with mint, but a splash of Peychaud Bitters is pretty good if you don't have any mint on hand.

The Passenger

Almost good enough to turn Kathy into a gin drinker.

Yield: 1 cocktail

Ingredients 1 1/2 oz Dry Gin 1/2 oz St. Germain 1/2 oz Fresh Lime Juice San Pellegrino Aranciata (a type of orange soda) Mint

How to Make Pour into an ice-filled Collins Glass and top off with San Pellegrino Aranciata. Stir and garnish with a sprig of mint.

Source: Perla's Seafood and Oyster Bar in Austin

Cucumber Kimchi

My friend and coworker Stephanie Dukes offered me a two-foot-long cucumber fresh from her dad's garden.  It was unlike any store bought cucumber I have had - not as wet inside, and just slightly hairy on the outside.  It was one of the best cucumbers I have had, and it deserved a special treatment.  Kathy and I had just tried a great new local Korean restaurant, but their cucumber kimchi was just not spicy enough, and I thought maybe I could make one more to my taste.  Here is my resulting recipe.  I hope Stephanie brings me more of those cucumbers.

One thing I discovered as I researched recipes was that there is no standard recipe for cucumber kimchi.  (And no standard English spelling either.)  My suggestion is use this recipe as an idea instead of a formula.  I like mine spicy and you may not.  Next time I make it, I will probably use less sugar, and make sure I have rice vinegar, but you might like it just the way I made it. (It is pretty tasty as shown below.)

Serve this with your favorite bulgogi, perhaps this one from one of my favorite food journalists, Mark Bittman of the the NY Times.

Cucumber Kimchi

Yield: 6 cups

Ingredients 6 medium cucumbers, halved lengthwise, seeded, and cut into chunks about 2 ½ x ¾ x ¾ inches. Kosher salt 6 cups rice wine vinegar (or regular white vinegar if you don't have rice vinegar) 2 cups sugar (maybe a little less if you prefer) 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced 1/4 cup fresh ginger matchsticks 3 large shallots, very thinly sliced 6 scallions, green tops sliced in 1" pieces, the white parts more thinly sliced 6 small radishes, very thinly sliced 1 cup shredded carrots 1 Tbs chili garlic sauce 1 Tbs cayenne 1 Tbs hot paprika 1/2 cup Thai fish sauce (nam pla)

How to Make 1.      Place the cucumbers in a colander set in the sink. Sprinkle the cucumbers generously with the salt. Allow to rest at room temperature until the cucumbers have exuded liquid, about 2 hours. Rinse the cucumbers, dry them well, and set aside. 2.      In a large, nonreactive saucepan, combine the vinegar and sugar and bring to a boil over medium heat. Add the garlic, ginger, and onions, bring to a simmer, and remove immediately from the heat. 3.      In a large, nonreactive bowl, combine the cucumbers, carrots, and radishes. Pour the vinegar mixture over them, add the chili garlic sauce, cayenne, hot paprika, and fish sauce, and toss well. 4.      Correct the seasoning with salt, if necessary. Let the mixture cool to room temperature and cover with plastic wrap. With a paring knife, punch a few holes in the plastic wrap and place the bowl in a cool, dark place. Let the mixture pickle for 24 hours. Transfer the kimchi to a tall glass jar or jars and seal tightly. Use or refrigerate.

Author: Started with a recipe by Ming Tsai, but modified with ideas from a number of other internet recipes I found. Ming Tsai's recipe can be found at this link: http://ming.com/foodandwine/recipes/season-1/cucumber-kimchee.htm.

Tips Check out recipes - you will see there is no such thing as a standard recipe for cucumber kimchi.  Adjust to your own taste! Daikon seems to be more traditional than the red radishes I used. Ming Tsai's recipe use 3 medium red onions, halved and cut into 1/8-inch slices instead of the shallots and green onions, and 4 tablespoons Korean chile flakes (kucho karu), or 2 tablespoons red pepper flakes, instead of the garlic chili sauce, cayenne, and hot paprika.

Buffalo Chicken with Avocado-Goat Cheese-Jicama Relish

This is a recipe that my daughter Lisa pinned on Pinterest, and Kathy had her eye on it for a while before she remembered to suggest that I make it sometime.  Glad she did.  Among other things, it is the very first time that I really liked jicama -- I will like it always from now on.

Lisa found Buffalo Chicken with Avocado-Goat Cheese-Jicama Relish on the Elly Says Opa! blog, and I have added that blog to my favorites. 


I feel better after reading Elly's description of her results - her breading didn't stick very well either. (Next time I will do the flour-egg-coating routine.) I don't feel so bad about mine now.  Anyway, my chicken may have been a little ugly, but it was delicious!

Buffalo Chicken with Avocado-Goat Cheese-Jicama Relish

Servings: 4

Ingredients 4 medium chicken breasts, about 4-5 oz. 2/3 cup buffalo/wing sauce 1 cup breadcrumbs 2 Tbs canola oil 1 large avocado, diced 1 cup peeled and diced jicama (about 1/2 of a jicama) 3 oz goat cheese, crumbled 2 radishes, thinly sliced and halved 2 Tbs chopped parsley or cilantro Juice of 1-2 limes

How to Make 1 Pound the chicken breasts to about 1/3″ thickness.  Place in a dish or bag and toss with the buffalo sauce. (You can do this in advance and just leave in the fridge or do this in the beginning, before starting the rest of your meal). 2 Season the breadcrumbs with salt and pepper. Remove the chicken from the buffalo sauce and dredge in the breadcrumbs. 3 Add 1 Tbsp. canola oil to a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Once hot, place 2 of the chicken breasts in the oil. Cook until chicken is done, flipping once, approximately 3 minutes per side. Remove the chicken, add the remaining oil, and cook the second batch of chicken. 4 Meanwhile, make the relish. Combine the avocado, jicama, goat cheese, radishes, and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper to taste; add lime juice and lightly mix to combine. 5 Serve the relish on top of the buffalo chicken.

Source: Elly says Opa! blog Web Page: http://ellysaysopa.com/2012/02/14/breaded-buffalo-chicken-with-avocado-goat-cheese-jicama-relish/

Tips When I looked at this recipe, I thought it probably needed a bit of cornmeal in the breading. I processed some corn meal in my spice grinder to get something like a coarse corn flour and used that in the coating with the bread crumbs. Really a great addition! I had the same problem that Elly at Elly Says Opa had -- the breading didn't stick very well. Next time an egg wash after flour and before bread crumbs.

Author Notes *If you don’t want to pound your chicken, pan-fry it as usual for about 2 minutes per side and then move to a 375° oven to finish cooking. If your chicken is too thick, the coating will burn before the inside is cooked thoroughly.

This is a picture of Elly from her Elly Says Opa! blog.  She is a cutie, and she has at least a kajillion good recipes.  She is from Chicago, my favorite city in the world -- and that also says something good about her. You ought to try her blog sometime. 

Pullman Sandwich Loaf

I have seen these Pullman Loaf Pans for years, and they seemed like a good idea, but I just never got around to trying one until recently.  It turns out that it makes a great loaf of sandwich bread, and the recipe I am sharing today is what Wonder Bread should have been -- it has a great potato bread flavor that is just slightly sweet, and a substantial texture.  Unlike the large, puffy slices you get with commercial sandwich breads, the texture allows a fairly thin slice that is a much more reasonable size.
The pan that I bought is 13" long and comes from USA Pans, which I highly recommend.  Their pans are commercial-grade and reasonably priced, and have a non-stick surface that is silicone based (instead of that scary Teflon stuff). And they are made right here in the good old U.S.A.

After I bought the pan, I searched for good recipes and found the one below on the King Arthur Flour web site, one of my go-to places for bread recipes and flour.  (Turns out that King Arthur also likes and sells USA Pans products.)

Pain de Mie (Pullman Sandwich Bread)

This delicious, fine-grained loaf is perfect for sandwiches and toast -- including French toast and melba toast. (That's what King Arthur Flour people say.) This is 10 times better than any white sandwich bread you can buy at the store, and it's as easy to make as it is to go get store bought. (That's what I say.)

Yield: 1 Loaf (13" pullman pan)

Ingredients 2/3 cup (5 3/8 ounces) milk 1 cup (8 ounces) water 6 Tbs (3 ounces) butter 2 1/4 tsp salt 3 Tbs (1 1/4 ounces) sugar 1/4 cup (1 1/8 ounces) Baker's Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk 3 Tbs (1 1/4 ounces) potato flour 4 3/4 cups (20 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour 2 tsp instant yeast

How to Make 1 Manual Method: In a large bowl, combine the milk, water, butter, salt and sugar. Add the dried milk, flours and yeast, stirring till the dough starts to leave the sides of the bowl. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased surface, oil your hands, and knead it for 5 to 8 minutes, or until it's smooth and supple. Because of the relatively high fat content of this dough, it's a real pleasure to work with. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl or dough-rising bucket, cover the bowl or bucket, and allow the dough to rise till puffy though not necessarily doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours, depending on the warmth of your kitchen. 2 Mixer Method: Combine the ingredients as above, using a flat beater paddle or beaters, then switch to the dough hook(s) and knead for 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl or dough-rising bucket, cover the bowl or bucket, and allow the dough to rise till doubled in bulk, 1 to 2 hours. 3 Bread Machine Method: Place all of the ingredients into the pan of your machine, program the machine for Manual or Dough, and press Start. When the cycle is finished, remove the dough and proceed as follows. 4 Lightly grease a 13 x 4-inch pain de mie pan. Transfer the risen dough to a lightly greased work surface, shape it into a 13-inch log, and fit it into the pan. Cover the pan with lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow the dough to rise until it's just below the lip of the pan, 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the warmth of your kitchen (it may rise even more slowly in a cool kitchen; don't worry, this long rise will give it great flavor). 5 Remove the plastic, and carefully place the cover on the pan, let it rest an additional 10 minutes while you preheat your oven to 350°F. Bake the bread for 25 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, carefully remove the lid, and return the bread to the oven to bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until it tests done; an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center will register 190°F. Remove the bread from the oven, and turn it out of the pan onto a rack to cool completely. Yield: 1 loaf.

Oven Temperature: 350°F

Source: King Arthur Flour Web Page: http://www.kingarthurflour.com

Tips If you live in the sticks, you might not find potato flour. I just find the plainest instant mashed potatoes I can, the ones in little packets, and use that instead. Works great! I don't need a big box of nonfat dry milk sitting around when I only use a little bit for this bread. Find the small packets and buy a few to have around. I saw on the King Arthur web site that you could use powdered buttermilk in place of the nonfat dried milk.

I happen to have an electric knife that gets used very infrequently.  (I got it primarily for cutting biscotti, but that is a recipe for another time)  It is perfect for slicing this bread into slices that are just the right thickness for sandwiches -- just enough bread to hold the contents without overwhelming them.  Of course, the knife works just as well if you want to cut the bread thicker for some really awesome French Toast.

Thai Country Curry

This Thai Country Curry, Gaeng Bah, is one of my favorite Asian dishes.  It is especially good on one of those days when you have been eating too much meat lately.The main ingredient is Japanese eggplant, those skinny purple ones, and it has just a bit of pork for flavor.The recipe is very flexible -- make it spicy or not, add different vegetables like corn, summer squash, or, if you must, snow peas.

Thai Country Style Curry (Gaeng Bah)

Served with jasmine rice, this spicy Thai dish makes a hearty one-dish meal. It is a flexible dish -- feel free to add other vegetables like corn or summer squash, or snow peas. Add delicate vegetables at the same time as the basil and chiles. You may also substitute beef for the pork.

Yield: Six servings.

Ingredients For the Stock 2 cups chicken stock 3 green onions 6 kaffir lime leaves, torn 2 stalks lemon grass, lower portion smashed and cut into 1 inch lengths 6 black peppercorns 2 cups water, approximately For the Curry 3 Tbs vegetable oil 2-3 Tbs red curry paste 1 Tbs red chili paste 1/2 lb trimmed pork shoulder, sliced into thin strips 1 1/2 by 3/4 inches the stock 3 Tbs fish sauce 1 1/2 Tbs palm sugar (may substitute turbinado or white cane sugar) 2 unpeeled Japanese eggplants, in 1-inch dice (about 3-4 cups) 15 green beans, trimmed and cut into 2-inch lengths handful fresh graprao basil leaves, or other fresh basil leaves 6 kaffir lime leaves, torn 1/2 red bell pepper, sliced into long thin strips 1-2 serrano chiles, sliced thinly on diagonal chopped cilantro, for garnish

How to Make Prepare the Stock 1  Simmer the stock, green onions, 6 torn kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass and peppercorns for about 15 minutes. Strain into a 4 cup measuring bowl, and discard solids. Add enough water to stock to bring to 4 cups. Prepare the Curry 1  In a large saucepan over low heat warm the oil until hot but not smoking. Add the curry paste and chili paste. It should sizzle, but not spit and pop wildly; if it does, remove from the heat for a moment. Press and stir the paste into the oil and cook until fragrant, about 3 or 4 minutes. 2  Add the meat and stir fry to brown and coat with paste. Cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until the meat absorbs most of the paste and oil and becomes shiny. 3  Add the stock and bring the curry to a boil. Add the fish sauce and sugar, the eggplant, and the green beans. Cook for a few minutes until the vegetables are barely done. Remove from the heat and stir in the basil, remaining 6 lime leaves, and red pepper strips and green chiles. Cover and let stand for about 7 minutes. Add additional fish sauce, to taste. 4  Serve with jasmine rice, and garnish with chopped cilantro.

Author: Adapted from Real Thai, by Nancie McDermott