Steamed meatloaf or in Vietnamese, Chả Trứng Hấp is a simple and cheap Vietnamese dish to make when on a tight budget.  I used this recipe before in my previous post on Combination Rice but this time I put a whole boiled egg in the middle of the steamed pork.  Traditionally,  the steamed egg yolk should be on top of the dish (see below).

It is pretty easy to make and you eat this with a bowl of rice with a side of vegetables.  It is very good dipped into a ginger chilli soy sauce.  Or you can use the filling and add the mince into soups or filling for spring rolls.  I like to make a bit more filling so I can freeze and use for another day.

The recipe as follows to make 4…..

- need 4 ramekins or just steam it the way you would like

Steamed Meatloaf with egg in the middle

- 150 grams of pork mince
- bit of dried mushroom soaked, drained and chopped
- a cup of bean thread vermicelli noodles soaked, drained and chopped
- 1 small onion minced
- 3 stalks shallots chopped roughly
- dash of pepper
- pinch of salt
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp of cornflour
- 2 TBS fish sauce  (I did not use this cause at the end you are going to dip it into sauce anyway but sometimes I use 3 TBS of oyster sauce instead of the fish sauce…..)

- you can add additional vegetables for instance – grated carrots, grated sweet potatoes, grated chest nuts…………traditionally its just the previous ingredients only but I like to have other things in it.  You can add crab meat too and also you can spread scallion oil on top after when the steamed loaf has finished cooking. 

- 4 hard boiled eggs.

Method

Mix all of the ingredients together EXCEPT for the hard boiled eggs

Lightly oil all 4 ramekins

 
Add a bit of mince on the bottom of the ramekins and make a dint in the middle so your boiled egg will snugly fit into each ramekin. 

Then place it into your steamer.   Use any steamer…I just use my Breville Electronic Steamer.  I love it!
Steam your loaf for around 25 to 30 minutes.

When finished steaming let cool and it should easily slide out with a knife.

Cut in half and serve with jasmine rice, vegetables and your favourite dipping sauce!