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Vegan Vietnamese Egg Meatloaf - Chả Trứng Chay

Balanced, flavorful, and enjoyable—this recipe has it all.

Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Total Time
50 mins
Servings: 1 loaf (about 4-6 servings)
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Vietnamese

Ingredients

  • 20 g 0.7 oz wood ear fungus, rehydrated and finely sliced
  • 75 g 2.6 oz mung bean vermicelli (one bundle of the dry noodles)
  • 340 g 12 oz vegan ground meat substitute (I used Lightlife because it's more pork-like)
  • 350 g 12.3 oz extra firm tofu, pressed and then finely crumbled
  • 4 stalks green onion finely diced
  • 2 g 1/2 tsp white sugar
  • 3 g 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 2 cloves garlic crushed or finely minced
  • 15 mL 1 tbsp vegan fish sauce (can sub soy sauce, omit salt if using soy sauce)
  • Optional: 1/2 tsp 2 g mushroom broth powder (you can just add more salt, or add some miso paste)
  • Optional: 1/4 cup JustEgg or other vegan egg liquid substitute
  • Oil for the pan

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. In two separate bowls with warm water, re-hydrate the wood ear fungus and mung bean vermicelli. Once hydrated, drain and squeeze out excess water then chop the noodles to be about 1 cm (about 1/2 inch) in length, and the fungus to be 0.5 cm (1/4 inch) in length.
  2. In a mixing bowl, add the ground meat substitute, crumbled extra-firm tofu, wood ear fungus, noodles, green onion, sugar, kosher salt, and vegan fish sauce (add mushroom broth powder if using, if not using, add a bit more salt). Mix well until everything looks evenly combined.
  3. Oil a loaf pan or a 9 inch cake pan, and press the meatloaf mixture into the pan and flatten well. You can use a spatula to "tuck" in the mixture along the edges so that when it cooks it won't have a hardened edge, but not super necessary.
  4. If you have JustEgg or another vegan egg liquid substitute, add a thin layer on top (about 1/4 cup total) and tilt the pan to cover the surface evenly.
  5. Steam, covered, on medium heat for 40-45 minutes until the mixture goes from pink to brown and pulls away from the sides. Every 10 minutes, pull off the lid and wipe the condensation with a kitchen cloth. This ensures that the liquid won't drip back on top of the meatloaf and make it soggy.
  6. Once cooked, remove from heat and let cool. You can slice some up once cool enough to handle and enjoy, but this is really good sliced once refrigerated, then pan fried until browned to get crispy on the edges.
  7. Serve with rice, tomato and cucumber, and a generous amount of nuoc mam cham!

Notes

  • I prefer using the loaf to cut into slices like a traditional meatloaf, but you can cut into pretty rhombus/diamond pieces if using a round cake pan.