Glazed soy and ginger chicken meatballs star in this Vietnamese Chicken Bowl, you won’t be able to stop eating them!
My son gobbled this dinner down. I’m not sure if it was the fresh ginger in the meatballs, or the glaze that goes over them, or the yummy avocado, but whatever the reason, this is one of his all time favourite dinners. And I’m not going to question that!
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Chicken Bowl Ingredients
- White vinegar
- Maple syrup
- Carrot
- Ginger
- Soy sauce
- Chicken mince
- Panko bread crumbs
- Olive oil
- Avocado
- Snow peas
- Mint
- White cabbage
- Sesame oil
- Microwave rice
- Salt
See recipe card for quantities.
How to make Vietnamese Chicken Bowls
1. Mix vinegar, salt and maple syrup in a small bowl. Peel carrot into ribbons using a potato peeler, then add to the bowl, submerge in liquid and set aside to pickle.
- 3 tablespoon white vinegar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 carrot
2. Grate ginger into a large bowl. Add soy sauce and chicken mince, breadcrumbs and combine. Boil the kettle (with at least 1 cup of water).
- 3cm ginger (1.5 tablespoon grated)
- 1.5 tablespoon soy sauce
- 500g chicken mince
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
3. Heat a large lidded frying pan over low-medium heat and add olive oil. Shape chicken into golf ball sized meatballs and place in the pan. Cover with a lid and cook for 5 minutes.
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
4. Slice avocado into eighths. Top and tail snow peas, add to a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Pick leaves from mint and finely slice. Finely slice cabbage (thin like slaw).
- 1 avocado
- 200g snow peas
- ¼ bunch mint
- ½ white cabbage
5. Once five minutes is up, turn the chicken meatballs and cook for 3 more minutes, lid on.
6. Remove the carrot from the pickling liquid and pour soy sauce and sesame oil into the reserved pickling liquid.
- 3 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1.5 tablespoon sesame oil
7. Pour the soy pickling liquid into the pan with the meatballs and cook for 3 minutes, or until meatballs are glazed and the sauce has reduced a little.
TIP: We don’t want the sauce to reduce too much, because this will also be our dressing for the rest of the bowl.
8. Heat microwave rice, then serve bowls of rice, veggies, mint leaves, meatballs and sauce.
Little kids may prefer to skip cabbage and mint.
TIP: If your glaze reduced too much and you don’t have enough sauce in your pan, you can mix equal parts soy sauce and sesame oil as a dressing.
- 450g microwave rice
Substitutions
- Alternative proteins - You can use pork or beef mince instead of chicken mince.
- Vegetarian - Swap mince for meat-free mince, or you can process drained butter beans instead of chicken mince. You may want to add an egg or other binding agent.
- Gluten Free - Swap soy sauce for tamari. Swap panko breadcrumbs for almond meal, puffed rice or quinoa flakes.
- Dairy Free - This recipe is dairy free.
Kid-Friendly Variations on the Chicken Bowl
- Slice chicken meatballs into fingers.
- Serve with avocado, rice and snow peas.
Equipment
You will need a potato peeler, a kettle, a lidded frying pan, a stovetop, a heatproof bowl, a microwave.
Top tip
When stirring the pickling liquid and soy sesame over the chicken, only reduce it a little bit, we still want enough sauce to dress the rest of the bowl. If you need a bit more sauce, you can always mix together soy sauce and sesame oil for a delicious dressing.
Recipe
Vietnamese Chicken Bowl
Equipment
- Potato peeler
- Kettle
- Lidded frying pan
- Stovetop
- Heatproof bowl
- Microwave
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 carrot
- 3 cm ginger 1.5 tablespoon grated
- Soy sauce 4.5 tbsp
- 500 g chicken mince
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 avocado
- 200 g snow peas
- ¼ bunch mint
- ½ white cabbage
- 1.5 tablespoon sesame oil
- 450 g microwave rice
- Salt
Instructions
- Mix vinegar, maple syrup and ½ teaspoon salt in a small bowl. Peel carrot into ribbons using a potato peeler, then add to the bowl, submerge in liquid and set aside to pickle.3 tablespoon white vinegar, 1 tablespoon maple syrup, Salt, 1 carrot
- Grate ginger into a large bowl. Add 1.5 tablespoons soy sauce and chicken mince, breadcrumbs and combine. Boil the kettle (with at least 1 cup of water).3 cm ginger, Soy sauce, 500 g chicken mince, ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- Heat a large lidded frying pan over low-medium heat and add olive oil. Shape chicken into golf ball sized meatballs and place in the pan. Cover with a lid and cook for 5 minutes.1 tablespoon olive oil
- Slice avocado into eighths. Top and tail snow peas, add to a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Pick leaves from mint and finely slice. Finely slice cabbage (thin like slaw).1 avocado, 200 g snow peas, ¼ bunch mint, ½ white cabbage
- Once five minutes is up, turn the chicken meatballs and cook for 3 more minutes, lid on.
- Remove the carrot from the pickling liquid and pour sesame oil and 3 tablespoons of soy sauce into the reserved pickling liquid.Soy sauce, 1.5 tablespoon sesame oil
- Pour the soy pickling liquid into the pan with the meatballs and cook for 3 minutes, or until meatballs are glazed and the sauce has reduced a little. TIP: We don’t want the sauce to reduce too much, because this will also be our dressing for the rest of the bowl.
- Heat microwave rice, then serve bowls of rice, veggies, mint leaves, meatballs and sauce.Little kids may prefer to skip cabbage and mint.TIP: If your glaze reduced too much and you don’t have enough sauce in your pan, you can mix equal parts soy sauce and sesame oil as a dressing.450 g microwave rice
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