In the span of a recent week I had been out for dinner several times and, upon slight reflection, I realize I ordered meatballs every time. Three meals, three orders of meatballs! The selections were of a Mediterranean bent, Italian, Greek, etc. and all equally tasty.
I figure I must be making up for meatball memories, as up until this recent run it’s been at least a year since I’d eaten any. Then I wondered why I am not preparing them at home more often where I often use ground meats of all varieties; pork, lamb, beef, turkey and chicken. Perhaps it was my notion that meatballs are time-consuming.
Not so with this recipe. It takes only slightly longer to put this main dish together than any other weeknight stir-fry. And I certainly appreciate the variety it brings to our rotation of dinner options.
Advance tip: To cut down on some of the cooking time, you can make eight little patties instead of meatballs. Doing so minimizes a bit of fussing to keep a round shape – and they cook faster. This method will require you to remove the browned patties from the skillet while you prepare the sauce, then return them to finish. No big deal. But what to call the recipe? Thai-Style Meatpucks just doesn’t sound very swell at all.
Thai-Style Meatballs
Makes eight 2-inch meatballs
INGREDIENTS
- 1 pound ground meat; pork, lamb, turkey, to your liking
- 1/ 4 cup finely minced shallot, divided
- 2 tablespoons finely minced ginger, divided
- 2 tablespoons finely minced garlic, divided
- 2 tablespoons finely minced lemon grass, divided
- 1 – 2 teaspoons finely minced jalapeno pepper, divided
- 1 – 2 teaspoons soy sauce, to taste
- 1 – 2 teaspoons fish sauce, to taste (recommend Red Boat brand)
- 1/ 8 – 1/ 4 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 1 cup coconut milk (prefer full fat)
- 1/ 2 cup chopped cilantro, leaves and some stems
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1 teaspoon corn starch mixed with 1 tablespoon of water
- 1 – 2 teaspoons coconut oil
INSTRUCTIONS
- Make the meatballs: Combine one-half of the shallots, ginger, garlic, lemon grass, and jalapeno pepper in a large mixing bowl. Add the ground meat, 1 teaspoon each soy sauce and fish sauce, and white pepper. Mix thoroughly, making sure to avoid compacting the meat mixture too much. Too much compacting results in dense, heavy meatballs. Form the mixture into eight evenly sized meatballs. If the mixture is sticking to your hands, wet your hands in cold water.
- Heat a 12-inch skillet on medium-high heat. Add coconut oil and heat until it barely begins to shimmer. Add the meatballs and brown them on all sides. Roll them around a bit to help retain their round shape. Continue cooking for about 10 minutes. They don’t need to be completely cooked as they will have more cooking time in the sauce. Either remove the meatballs to a plate and set aside or, easier yet, move them to one side of the skillet while you make the sauce.
- Add the remaining half of shallot, ginger, garlic, lemon grass and jalapeno pepper to the skillet. Stir while these aromatics become just translucent, a couple of minutes. Add the coconut milk and bring the mixture to a simmer. Add scant amounts of soy sauce and fish sauce to taste. (Remember these are salty!)
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and move the meatballs back into the coconut milk sauce. Cover the skillet and cook another 5 minutes.
- Stir the cornstarch and water together. Make a well in the center of the skillet and add the cornstarch in a slow stream, stirring constantly. This thickens the sauce. Finally, add the lime juice and then stir in the chopped cilantro.
- Serve with steamed rice, or anything you prefer to soak up the sauce.
