Soap and Food in the Deep South: January 2013

How could it be that after expounding about my meatless home, I post my first recipe and it has meat in it? Long story short: my husband made me do it. I had made these years before pre-meat and we were having guests over for dinner and Ticket to Ride.

He wanted it and I love him so I did it. Not ashamed. They are AMAZEBALLS.

Recipes at end of post.

First, the meatless Asian cucumber salad "side" of which I tend to, more often than not, have in the fridge for husband to snack on. It's more a relish or pickle but I make a bunch of it and call it a salad. It's very versatile for whatever you have on hand.

First, make the dressing and chop all the rest as your dressing cools. I like to use the smaller crunchier cucumbers but use regular ones if that's what they have. Don't peel them. I also use shallots but have used white onions and red onions. I've used dried red pepper in lieu of fresh chilis. I've also skipped the cilantro if I didn't have any.

This is the ideal chili, a Fresno chili:

It looks like a red jalapeño and has the same heat as a jalapeño but is sweeter. Use gloves if you don't want your eyes to burn like daggers have been thrust through them after you inadvertently scratch them. Trust me on this. Again, you can also use dried red pepper or even a green jalapeño , but the red is a nice contrast.

A note about cilantro: chop the stems too. People spend all this time pulling the leaves when the stems are just as flavorful. Save yourself time and chop the stems with the leaves. This isn't rosemary.

Isn't it pretty? Make this often. YUM.

Recipe:
4 Tbsp sugar
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro
1/2 fresno chile, finely chopped or a quarter tsp. dried chili flakes
1/4 cup shallot (4-6) or onion, sliced thin
3 cucumbers, quartered lengthwise, sliced thin
Stir sugar, vinegar, salt, and boiling water in a bowl; let cool. Stir in cilantro, chile, shallots, and cucumber. Store in fridge. Drain before serving.

The Bahn Mi:

This sandwich is kind of a fusion of Vietnamese and French stemming from the whole Indochine occupation of Vietnam by France. Result: Vietnamese ingredients in yummy French Bread.

The recipe is based from an epicurious recipe found here.

Below is my rendition with some minor adjustments.

Obligatory pic of all/most of ingredients for everything:

The recipe has a few components - most of which can be made a day in advance.

The sauce (you can make ahead): This is a shmear which will go on the bread. It has mayo in it. I HATE mayo but with this sandwich it's a lovely addition so we will call it an aioli. It has siracha but the heat is mild.

The Slaw:
It is made with Daikon and Carrot with some other stuff.

Daikon looks like a monster white carrot. It's actually a Japanese radish. I found it at my southern grocery so you might be able to find it in yours. In a pinch you can substitute radish or even cucumber. I used a food processor to shave the veggies but you can just as easily buy the matchstick carrots in a pack and matchstick chop the daikon as the processor will make the veggie lose a lot of water so you kind of have to squeeze it before placing on the sandwich.

The slaw has fish sauce in it. You can find fish sauce in your ethnic section of the grocery. Don't be scared of it. Yes, it's "fishy" but just like anchovy it gives an incredible depth of salty flavor that is NOT fishy at all once in food. Store fish sauce in the pantry and not in the fridge.

Sesame oil is also in it. You don't use sesame oil like a cooking oil. It's used for flavor so don't slip your hand - if you overdo it it really affects the flavor.

The meatballs: You can make this in advance.

Of course, I forgot to take a pic so use your imagination. Ideally, this should be made with ground pork but you can just as easily use chicken, turkey or beef. Use what you have.

It has a little heat as well - my kids don't notice it at all if you don't mention it but you can always make non spicy meatballs.

The recipe for the meatballs calls for both salt AND fish sauce. Use one OR the other but not both as it will be too salty.

The bread: I use the "hoagie" rolls from the nice section of the bakery (not the bread aisle).

The bread kinda makes this dish so don't skimp on it. You want crunchy crust bread. If you can't find crusty rolls, slice up 10" sections of a crusty baguette. Pop it in a 300F oven for 5-8 minutes to crunch it up. Slice it not all the way through and dig out some insides. Snack on this or give this to your kids as it should never be thrown away. This makes a shell for maximum meatball and slaw stuffing and easy eating so the balls don't fall out.

Assembly:

Aioli + very thin sliced jalapeño + cilantro sprigs + meatballs + slaw = best meatball sandwich ever.