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A Cyberpunk-style food photo showing a close-up of four Vietnamese sandwiches (bánh mì) stacked up on a wooden board.
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Meatball Bánh Mì

With its fresh herbs, fatty meat balls, acidic pickles, spicy sauce, and crunchy bread, this bánh mì variation may just be the ultimate sandwich.
Prep Time1 hour
Cook Time15 minutes
Marinading time1 hour
Course: Breakfast, Main Course
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

  • 2 baguettes (50-60cm each) or twice the amount, half the size

For the pickled veggies

  • 1 medium carrot
  • 120 g Daikon radish or any large white radish
  • 2 tbsp white sugar
  • 3 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1 tsp toasted sesame oil

For the meatballs

  • 500 g ground pork
  • 10 g fresh cilantro
  • 1 scallion
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 tbsp Sriracha
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 0.5 tsp fine salt
  • 0.25 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 tbsp neutral oil

Sauce & toppings

  • 20 g fresh cilantro
  • 125 ml mayonnaise ideally Kewpie
  • 4 tsp Sriracha
  • 1 spicy red chili

Instructions

Chop, chop

  • Wash and roughly chop the cilantro for the meatballs and the topping. You don't need to pluck the leaves, the stems are okay to eat.
  • Finely chop the chili. Deseed it first to decrease spiciness if desired.
  • Peel and julienne the carrot and radish.

Pickle the veggies

  • Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a mid-sized bowl and stir well.
  • Add the julienned carrot and radish. Marinade for at least one hour.

Make the meatballs

  • In a large bowl, mix all the meatball ingredients and knead until well-integrated. (Make sure reserve enough cilantro for the topping later.)
  • Form about 20 meat balls on a plate or baking sheet that will fit into your fridge or freezer.
  • If making the meatballs in advance, store in the freezer for up to a few hours. To fast-track it, place them in the freezer for 20 minutes.
  • Heat up some neutral oil in a medium-sized pan over medium high heat.
  • Fry the meatballs until cooked through and nicely browned, then side aside.

Make the sandwiches

  • Combine the mayonnaise and Sriracha and stir until fully integrated.
  • Optional but recommended: Preheat the oven to 230° C on grill setting and toast the baguettes for ~5 minutes until crunchy on the outside (but not dried out!).
  • Cut the baguettes in half and slice them open, but not all the way through on one side.
  • Spread the Sriracha mayonnaise on the bottom side.
  • Cut the meatballs in half and distribute on the baguettes.
  • Add pickled veggies, then cilantro and chopped chili.