Crispy, Golden Meatballs
This might seem odd, but there was a time in my life when I dreaded Saturdays. Saturdays, for the 5 year old me, meant a half day at kindergarden (which wasn’t so bad), but it also meant mandatory school lunch. Now, don’t get me wrong, the lunch ladies at my kindergarden did a fantastic job, most of the time. The only exception was meatball Saturdays. These were not the delicious meatballs nestled on a bed of pasta, these were childhood-scarring meatballs made of dense, pale pork, boiled in a bland soup of Chinese cabbage. Every time I attempt to eat one of these meatballs, I end up retching into my bowl. It was just the most awful tasting thing – well, andouille sausage is also pretty high on that list. And to add insult to injury, I was made (by the teachers) to eat everything I just threw up!
I remember dreading going to school on Saturdays, because, after my weekly meatball waterboarding session, I’d have to face a hour of piano lessons with the Tiger Mom before finally falling into the dotting arms of my grandparents for the weekend, where I would be spoiled with good food and a little bit of champagne, here and there. So that brings me to the recipe at hand – crispy, golden fried meatballs. It’s amazing how delicious a golden, fried meatball is compared to its evil, boiled cousin. They make for a great snack, or an enticing side dish. Also, these golden meatballs are fantastic crowd pleasers, and make for the perfect party food.
Other children had nightmares of monsters in their closets, I had panic attack over evil, boiled meatballs. This recipe, is a therapeutic step towards curing me of this fear!
What you’ll need (makes around 25-30 meatballs):
- 250 g of minced pork
- 1/2 tbls of garlic powder
- 1.5 tsp of salt
- 3 tsp of light soy sauce
- 1 egg
- 2 tbls of red onions (or green scallions)
- 2 tsp oil
- pepper to taste
First off, start with the minced pork. For a juicy texture, I tend to use fattier cuts of pork. You want to mix the pork well enough that the mince has the texture of mashed potatoes – this helps make the meatball “fluffier”.
Mix in the egg, onion, salt, soy sauce, oil and garlic powder.
This should be the consistency you are looking for (below).
Here comes the fun part! Roll portions of mince into 3cm wide balls. I would pre-roll all the balls first before frying them.
Drizzle enough oil into the pan to fully cover the heated surface. Place meatballs on the hot surface and fry for about 2 minutes on medium to high heat.
Turn the meatballs around the fry for an additional 2 minutes.
Give them a good dusting of black pepper.
Voila! Bon Appetit!
