Thai Pork Meatballs & Sweet Chili Sauce

I love the flavours of Thailand – ginger, chili, garlic, lemongrass, lime – and the perfect balance of sweet-salty-sour-hot that winds its way through the nation’s cuisine, singing perfect high notes on your tastebuds.

These meatballs are packed with all those bright flavours. They’re perfect for a party, with this sticky sweet chili sauce as their escort. You could spear them with toothpicks, or do like I did and serve them with torn lettuce leaves and cucumber slices. It’s messy, but fun.

To make them, whir all the ingredients – other than the pork – in a food processor to achieve a fine mince. Then use your hands to work the mixture into the meat, and make little balls between dampened palms. I like to employ my little cookie scoop to make even portions, before rolling them into shape.

They’re baked in the oven – and as such, couldn’t be simpler. No standing over a oil-sputtering frying pan. You can make them in advance and freeze (uncooked), reducing oven temperature by 25 degrees and increasing cooking time by about 10 minutes when you’re ready to serve them.

If not as an appetizer, you could serve them for dinner with coconut rice. Yum. A bit of brightness as we round the bend on January…

How’ve you been? If you’re on the East coast, I hope you’re staying warm! It reached somewhere close to -40 C/F in my hometown (Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada)  last week. YIPE!

Thai Pork Meatballs & Sweet Chili Sauce

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

40 mins

 

Serves 8-10 as an appetizer, or 6 as a main dish.

Author: Jennifer Hill

Serves: 8-10

Ingredients

For Meatballs:

• 2 lemongrass stalks, tender inner part, bottom 4 inches only
• 3 shallots, peeled
• ¼ cup fresh cilantro
• 3 green onions
• 1 inch piece ginger, peeled
• 1 small jalapeno
• 1 carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp coarse salt
• 1½ lbs ground pork

For Sauce:

• ¼ cup lime juice
• ¼ cup fish sauce
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp grated carrot
• 2 tbsp grated cucumber
• 3 tbsp chili paste (such as sambal olek)

For serving:

• 1 head of iceberg or butter lettuce, leaves separated (and large ones torn)
• ¼ large cucumber, thinly sliced

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Combine all ingredients except pork in a food processor and pulse until minced. Transfer to a large bowl and add pork; use your hands to thoroughly combine.
3. Form meatballs, using 1 rounded tablespoon of pork mixture each, and place on parchment-lined baking sheets 1 inch apart. Bake 25 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.
4. Meanwhile, make sauce by combining all ingredients in a medium bowl. Transfer to serving dish.
5. Serve meatballs in lettuce cups with a slice of cucumber and a drizzle of sauce – I recommend putting out the components and letting guests assemble their own!

3.2.1596

Heavily adapted from this recipe on epicurious.