Super Easy, Super Tasty Vietnamese Meat Loaf

[ljt2r]

Made this earlier in the week and was a weeknight hit. Can probably me made with almost any ground meat, too.

Cha Dum (Vietnamese Meat Loaf)
Adapted from Quick & Easy Vietnamese, Nancie McDemott

1 lb ground sirloin or 1/2 lb ground chuck and 1/2 lb ground turkey
1 1/2 oz dried bean thread vermicelli (mung bean threads)
2 T finely chopped shallots or red onions
1 T minced garlic
1/4 cup shredded carrots
2 T fish sauce (try subbing in some superior dark soy sauce, to brown meat better--I did not but will next time)
salt and pepper to taste
1 beaten egg

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Set aside an 8X4 loaf pan.

Place the mung bean threads in a bowl and pour hot water over them. Leave them to soak until pliable, 10-20 minutes. When they are pliable, drain them and then place them on a cutting board and roughly chop them. Set aside in a large bowl. Add to that the carrots, onions and garlic. Add the meat and mix with your hands until the ingredients are roughly but evenly distributed (i.e., do not over mix). Add the egg, fish sauce and salt and pepper and mix again with your hands until the ingredients are evenly distributed. Do not over mix.

Place the meat mixture in the loaf pan and pat it evenly into the pan. Bake until it is firm, fragrant and cooked through, 30-40 minutes. Let the meat loaf cool for 10 minutes in its pan, and then transfer to a serving platter. Serve with fresh veggies, such as romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots, and nuoc cham and jasmine rice.

[avariell]

I made this for lunch today (Saw it on her blog this morning). I LOVED it! I made the following changes:

-I used 8 oz ground turkey (so halved the meat)
-eyeballed the onions, garlic and carrots (used full amount called for in recipe)
- 1 T fish sauce and 1 T superior dark soy sauce
- added handful of chopped cilantro
- added 1 big spoonful of chili-garlic sauce
- used rice vermicelli instead of mung bean threads (used full amount called for in recipe)

I just shaped mine into a round and baked it on a dish (so not in a loaf pan). I ate it with some nuac cham I threw together and marinated carrots, radishes and onions in it. It was DELICIOUS!

[SheRa]

this sounds awesome! thanks for sharing

[avariell]

Bumping to say that the leftovers were equally wonderful for lunch today. I bought more ground turkey so I can make it again soon!

[PixieDust]

I'm a huge fan of meatloaf, but have been making the same recipe for the past couple years. This looks like a great, unique alternative. Can't wait to make it!

[Anne]

It looks great. I never considered an Asian style meatloaf so this opens up a whole new line of possibilities to me.

[ljt2r]

Originally Posted by Anne

It looks great. I never considered an Asian style meatloaf so this opens up a whole new line of possibilities to me.

Oooh, in that case may I also recommend this Curried Meatloaf? We loved this one as well; pics are here. I believe I was alerted to the existence of this meatloaf on the clbb--I think PatsyK posted it?:

Black Rice Curried Meatloaf with Green Grape Chutney

Adapted from Eating Well

Ingredients
½ cup sweet black rice
1 medium zucchini -- shredded using the large holes of a box grater
1 T extra-virgin olive oil
2 T minced fresh ginger
4 cloves garlic -- minced
1 medium yellow onion -- finely chopped
2 celery stalks -- finely chopped
1 T curry powder
2 t Worcestershire sauce
1 t salt
2 lbs ground beef (lean if you have it but I did not)
1 large egg -- beaten
1/3 cup green grape chutney -- plus more for serving

Put rice in a pot of water (much like you would for pasta) and bring to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer at the lowest bubble for 30 minutes and taste the rice--if it still chewy, continue simmering, up to possibly 50 minutes depending on the rice. Drain the water when done and set aside.

Meanwhile, squeeze any excess moisture from zucchini. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add ginger and garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add onion, celery and the zucchini; cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in curry powder; cook 1 minute. Stir in Worcestershire sauce and salt until combined. Transfer to a large bowl and let cool for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a rimmed baking sheet or broiler pan with cooking spray.

Spoon the cooked rice onto a clean cutting board and chop the grains into small bits with a large knife. Transfer to the bowl with the vegetables, add ground beef and egg and gently mix until just combined. Place the mixture on the prepared pan and shape into a loaf, about 10 inches by 5 inches. Spread chutney evenly over the top.

Bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the meatloaf registers 165°F, 1 hour to 1 1/4 hours. Let cool for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with additional chutney, if desired.

Green Grape Chutney

Adapted from Recipes from From Curries to Kebabs: Recipes from the Indian Spice Trail, Madhur Jaffrey

Ingredients

2 t panch phoron

1 T olive oil

3 cloves minced garlic

1 T minced ginger

½ t salt

1 t ground cumin

½ t cayenne powder

1 t ground ginger

Juice of one lime (or 1 T amchoor powder if you have it but I did not)

2-3 T sugar, to taste (taste as you add)

1 bag of green grapes, washed and cut in half (I was lazy and mashed them as they cooked)

Whisk together the water, salt, cayenne powder, ground ginger, ground cumin and lime juice or amchoor powder. Set aside.

Heat the oil on medium heat in a large saucepan. Add the panch phoron, garlic and ginger and sauté briefly to flavor the oil. Add the water mixture and simmer on low for 10 minutes. Then raise the heat a boil vigorously for a minute. Add the grapes and one tablespoon of sugar. Reduce the heat to a brisk simmer. Leave the pot for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, taste for additional sugar. Mash the grapes if you did not cut them in half. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer to desired consistency (I like my chutney thickly syrupy—it took around 45 minutes more, but it could have been done earlier—it just would have been runnier).

[PattiA]

Laura, I made this right after you posted it and it was delicious, but I had trouble getting the bean threads to incorporate well into the meat mixture. I formed it into mini meatloaves and they all had bean thread pieces sticking out of them. I cut the bean threads into about 1 inch pieces. Is that too big? The bean threads that were sticking out baked to a hard texture and the texture of the outside of the loaf was spikey and crunchy and bordering on unpleasant. The texture of the inside of the loaf was wonderful.

I had a 1 1/2 pound package of lean beef, so I scaled the recipe up to use that amount of meat. For 1 1/2 pounds of beef, I used 2 1/4 ounces of bean thread. I used KaMe Sai Fun Bean Threads.

Did I chop the bean threads too coarsely? I might have soaked them longer than 20 minutes, would that matter? Or do you have any other ideas why the bean threads didn't incorporate well.

We both loved the flavor of this meatloaf, but the crisp pieces of bean thread sticking out were offputting.

[ljt2r]

Huh. Well I only have guesses--maybe Josie will chime in since she made it also? But maybe the 1 inch chop was too long in light of the fact that you made mini loaves? Soaking them longer than 20 mins should not have mattered--would only make them softer. Was the rest of the outside meat browned to the point of crispiness? Maybe mini loaves require a lower temp?, because frankly none of my outside was crispy....

[avariell]

I was staring at the pictures that I uploaded to my blog, and I think maybe I had a little bit of a problem with the little pieces sticking out. But I think I liked the textural difference - so I am not sure what to tell you. I wonder if you created some sort of a glaze to pour over it if it would help, or just somehow smoothed your fingers over it right before you put it in the oven?? or covered it in foil? I am not sure

[avariell]

Bumping to say I made this again today, and it was delicious again. This time I baked it in a loaf pan, and none of the little noodles stuck out and got crispy. It browned nicely and cut into nice slices (used ground turkey again).
Super yummy and different!!

[Steve T2]

Traditionally, this loaf and all its variants are steamed... I'm finishing a chicken/shrimp loaf right now In the oven cause I wanted to make a big shallow rectangle loaf that cant go in a steamer. there are no burnt threads My beanthreads are rough cut around 1in. give or take and there all laying flat. Maybe cause I used more egg, 6 eggwhites for 3 lbs ground chicken.
If you cant steam it or want to follow this great recipe put your loaf pan in a bigger roast pan with an inch or so of water in it and cover your loaf pan with foil till cooked. That way nothing gets burned...
Just awhile ago I took mine out and drained the juices (saved for a mini something else soup)... spread saved eggyolks on top and sides...(created side space in beginning)... re-covered it and put her back in for a bit...
.Pause to go check now..
Ta-da, Perfect!...the only prob tho, was foil was stuck to top/center area of loaf, so next time, I'll grease it and try and keep some airspace tween the loaf and foil... Hope this helps someone...
Ps: reduce heat 250/cook awhile longer
Great site! and cheers all!
Stevo in LA