Steamed pork and egg “meatloaf’’

Instructions

1. Set up a steaming station with either a large wok or saucepan filled with water with a bamboo steamer set on top, ready to steam. Bring the water to a gentle boil.
   
2. Use a heavy knife or cleaver to hand-chop the pork belly to a very coarse mince texture. Transfer the minced pork to a large bowl with the eschallot, spring onion, garlic, eggs, fish sauce, chicken powder and a generous pinch of salt and sugar. Mix well to combine, then transfer to a shallow bowl that fits inside the bamboo steamer.
   
3. Steam the pork and egg meatloaf for 20 – 30 minutes, or until cooked. Remove from the steamer and allow to rest. Serve the meatloaf with rice, pickled mustard greens, pickled eggplant and shrimp, spring onion, fried shallots and coriander sprigs.

• Khanh used store-bought pickled eggplant and shrimp by Ca Phao Tom Chua for this recipe. This recipe produces the best results when hand-chopping mince rather than using pre-minced meat – which is too fine in texture for this technique.