Vietnamese CookbookBếp Việt · The Vietnamese Kitchen

Đà Lạt Bánh Mì Xíu Mại

Bánh mì xíu mại

A hill-station breakfast built for dunking — loose pork meatballs simmered in tomato broth, torn bread on the side, a Hoa dish that became Đà Lạt's own.

By Vietnamese Cookbook Kitchen · May 10, 2026

The Central HighlandsFrench Indochina era, 1883–1945

Đà Lạt Bánh Mì Xíu MạiPhố
Prep
25 min
Cook
35 min
Serves
4
Level
Beginner

Xíu mại belongs, originally, to Cantonese dim sum — siu maai, a steamed pork dumpling that Hoa (ethnic Chinese) communities carried into Việt Nam generations ago, concentrated in trading centers built up under French colonial rule. Đà Lạt took the name and the meatball and built something new around them: not a steamer basket but a bowl of tomato broth, not rice but torn bread, eaten at breakfast in a town cold enough that a bowl of hot broth at 7 a.m. isn't a luxury, it's a plan.

The dish now reads as pure Đà Lạt even to Vietnamese visitors from elsewhere, evidence of how thoroughly a borrowed dish can be re-homed. The bread is not a side dish here, it's a utensil — torn and dunked into broth gone sweet-tart from tomato and savory from the meatballs simmering in it, the whole thing eaten fast before the highland morning chill catches up with you. It travels well in memory, too: ask anyone who grew up in Đà Lạt what breakfast tasted like, and this is usually the first answer.

Poach the meatballs gently, never at a hard boil. A rolling boil breaks them apart before they've had a chance to set, and you'll spend breakfast fishing pork shreds out of tomato broth instead of eating meatballs.

Lời đầu bếp · A word from the kitchen

Ingredientsnguyên liệu

Serves 4

Meatballs

  • 500 gground pork — about 1 lb, with some fat — a lean grind makes a dry, crumbly meatball
  • 50 gpork fat, minced fine — about 1/3 cup, optional but traditional — it's what keeps the meatball tender through a long simmer
  • 1shallot, minced
  • 3garlic cloves, minced
  • 1egg
  • 1 tbspfish sauce
  • 1 tspsugar
  • To tasteblack pepper to taste

Tomato broth

  • 4ripe tomatoes, chopped — or 400 g canned whole tomatoes, crushed by hand
  • 2 tbsptomato paste
  • 1shallot, sliced
  • 700 mlpork or chicken stock — about 3 cups
  • 2 tbspfish sauce
  • 1 tbspsugar
  • 2 tbspneutral oil

To serve

  • 4small baguettes or bánh mì rolls — split but not fully cut through, warmed until the crust crackles
  • 2 tbspcilantro, chopped
  • To tastesliced chili, to taste

Methodcách làm

  1. Step 1: Mix the meatball paste

    Combine the ground pork, minced fat, shallot, garlic, egg, fish sauce, sugar, and pepper, then mix vigorously in one direction until the mixture turns pale and slightly sticky. That texture is what keeps the meatballs from falling apart in the broth.

  2. Step 2: Shape the meatballs

    Wet your hands and roll the mixture into balls about the size of a golf ball, roughly 30 g each. You should get 14 to 16 meatballs; set them on a tray while you start the broth.

  3. Step 3: Build the tomato base

    Sauté the sliced shallot in oil until fragrant, then add the tomatoes and tomato paste and cook down for 8 to 10 minutes, mashing as they soften, until the mixture turns deep red and loses its raw edge.

  4. Step 4: Simmer the meatballs in the broth

    Add the stock, fish sauce, and sugar to the tomato base and bring to a gentle simmer — not a boil. Lower the meatballs in one at a time and poach for 20 to 25 minutes, until cooked through and floating.

  5. Step 5: Adjust and rest

    Taste the broth and adjust with fish sauce or sugar until it's bright, savory, and just faintly sweet. Let it sit off heat for 5 minutes before serving — the flavor rounds out as it settles.

  6. Step 6: Serve for dunking

    Ladle meatballs and plenty of broth into bowls, scatter with cilantro and chili, and serve the warm bread on the side, not in the bowl. Tear pieces off and dunk as you go — that's the entire ritual.

Questions from the kitchen

Why is this a Đà Lạt dish and not just a Sài Gòn one?

Xíu mại (from Cantonese siu maai) came to Việt Nam through Hoa (ethnic Chinese) communities during the French colonial period, and it's eaten across the south in dim sum form. Đà Lạt took the same pork meatball and built a specific breakfast ritual around it — bread for dunking instead of rice, a tomato broth built thinner and brighter for a cool morning — that's now considered a highland specialty in its own right.

Can I make the meatballs ahead?

Shape and refrigerate them uncooked up to a day ahead, covered tightly, or freeze on a tray and transfer to a bag once solid. Poach from frozen by adding 8 to 10 minutes to the simmer time; don't thaw first or they'll lose their shape going into the pot.

My meatballs keep falling apart in the broth. What went wrong?

Almost always a boil that's too hard, or a mixture that wasn't beaten long enough to develop stickiness. Keep the broth at a bare simmer — you should see occasional bubbles, not a rolling boil — and mix the raw paste until it visibly tightens and pales before shaping.

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