Cha Trung Hap – Instant Pot (Vietnamese Egg Meatloaf)
Cha trung hap as known as Vietnamese Egg Meatloaf. It is an easy savoury dish to make and to speed it up making this in the Instant Pot reduces the time by half. Made with ground pork, eggs, wood ear mushrooms, carrots, glass noodles and salted duck egg. This dish pairs great with rice and pork chops or you can eat this as a side dish with rice and your favourite green vegetable.
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ pound ground pork
- 6 large eggs 4 for pork mixture, 2 egg yolk separated from egg white for the top of the Cha Trung hap
- ½ medium carrot finely shredded
- 2 oz wood ear mushrooms rehydrated and sliced thinly
- 1 glass/bean noodle bundle
- 1 garlic cloves finely minced
- 1 green onions finely chopped
- 2 shallots finely minced
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ¼ tsp toasted sesame oil
- ½ salted duck egg optional
Instructions
- Rehydrate the vermicelli noodles and wood ear mushrooms for at least 15 minutes.
- Take the ground pork and add sugar, fish sauce, salt, black pepper and sesame oil. Mix well and let it marinate for 5 minutes.
- Finely chop the green onions, shallots and garlic. Peel and finely cut the carrots. Use a julienned peeler to get a consistent-sized shredded carrot. Add to the ground pork.
- Once the vermicelli noodles are rehydrated using scissors cut them into 3-inch lengths. Chop the wood ear mushrooms. If using the salted duck egg cut it into small pieces. Add them to the pork mixture and mix well.
- Add the 4 eggs to the pork mixture. Mix it well and pour the cha trung hap mixture into the plate or bowl you will be using to steam in.
- Prepare the Instant Pot and add approximately 2 -3 cups of water. I have the 8-quart so I use 3 cups of water. Place the Instant Pot trivet in first and slowly place the plate of cha trung hap. I recommend using aluminum foil to cover the plate to reduce the amount of water that pools on top during the cooking process. Place the lid on top and set the Instant Pot to steamer function for 15 minutes and natural release for 10 minutes.
- While the cha trung hap is cooking separate the egg whites from the yolk. For the top, we will only be using the egg yolk. Set aside the egg whites for another recipe.
- Once the Instant Pot is done and the lid is ready to be removed. Take the Instant Pot lid off and slowly lift the trivet. Using a spoon or a silicon brush pour the two egg yolks on top and evenly spread it all over.
- Place the trivet and plate back into the Instant Pot and cover the Instant Pot with the lid on and set to steamer for 1 minute and release immediately.
- Remove the cha trung hap from the Instant Pot and serve with your favorite side dish and rice.
Notes
When purchasing ground pork. I generally lean towards getting regular ground pork with some fat. If you want to be healthier going extra lean still works with this recipe. Where I am located regular ground pork is slightly less expensive than extra lean.
If you would like to make this dish slightly lighter I would suggest adding crab meat or shrimp. Use less pork and substitute with crab meat or shrimp. With the shrimp peel, devein and chop up finely.
Using high-grade eggs with a more deep yellow-orange colour helps bring out that nice colour on the top. When I purchase eggs I buy the best high-grade eggs possible like pasture-raised or free-range.
To speed up the time use a shallow round plate. If the egg and pork mixture is steamed in a shallow plate it takes less time but I find this works well if you are eating it as a main dish. If you are looking to get the same large square pieces you see in restaurants, use a loaf pan 8.5 X 4.5 to get that nice. If you are using the loaf pan increase the steam time to 20 minutes in the Instant Pot.
If you are in a rush and don’t have time to add the egg yolk on top after you can even skip this step. This is more of a nice aesthetics to the eyes for guests or for photos but when I’m off work and just getting home and trying to get food on the table for my family I skip this step. It does not change the taste or feel of the dish. However, if you skip this step, it does leave a dull color cha trung hap. So be warned!
Use aluminum foil to cover the plate to reduce water from pooling on top during the steam process.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!