Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Asian Meatballs with Sesame Lime Dipping Sauce





From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Now that school is back in session, I thought it would be nice to find some new dishes for weeknight meals. When I began my search, I knew any recipe I selected had to be easy to make. I was also looking for entrees that were new or uncommon variations of dishes my family already enjoyed. My gang loves meatballs and when I saw this Asian riff, I knew I had to give it a try. The meatballs met all my criteria and once the ingredients were assembled, it took about 40 minutes to get them on the table. Clean-up is easy because the meatballs are baked rather than fried and their mildly Asian flavors should appeal to all but the youngest members of your family. I like to serve these with a rice noodle salad, but a plain steamed rice will also work well. I'll post the recipe for the salad tomorrow. I think those of you who try the meatballs will enjoy them. They are easy to make if you keep your hands moist as you shape them. The recipe can be doubled or tripled and that makes it a great candidate for a covered dish supper. Here's how the meatballs are made.

Asian Meatballs with Sesame Lime Dipping Sauce...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Gourmet Magazine

Ingredients:
1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup fine dry bread crumbs
3/4 pound ground pork
3/4 pound ground beef or veal
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup canned sliced water chestnuts, rinsed, drained, and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro + 1/4 cup sprigs
5 tablespoons soy sauce, divided use
4 teaspoons Asian sesame oil, divided use
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons sugar
Suggested accompaniment: steamed white rice or rice noodle salad

Directions:
1) Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
2) Pour milk over bread crumbs in a large bowl and stir until liquid is absorbed. Add ground meat, egg, water chestnuts, salt, chopped cilantro, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, and 2 teaspoons oil and mix with your hands until combined well. Shape 3 tablespoons meat mixture into a ball and transfer to a 13- by 9-inch glass baking dish. Make more meatballs with remaining mixture, arranging meatballs about 1/2 inch apart in baking dish. Bake until cooked through, about 15 minutes.
3) Meanwhile, stir together lime juice, water, sugar, remaining 4 tablespoons soy sauce, and remaining 2 teaspoons oil in a bowl until sugar is dissolved.
4) Transfer meatballs to a serving dish. Stir sauce, then drizzle meatballs with 1 tablespoon sauce and sprinkle with cilantro sprigs. Serve meatballs with remaining sauce. Yield: 4 servings.









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19 comments :

Carole said...

Fantastic! How about linking it in to Food on Friday: Meatballs? Cheers

QembarDelites said...

What delicious looking meatballs! I love the idea of baking them instead of frying which I dislike due to the mess that I need to clean up of cooking!

Ellen Whyte said...

Oh man this makes me laugh because it's very close to Dutch meatballs. I hardly ever make them here (Malaysia) because Muslims don't eat pork and Hindus and many Buddhists don't eat beef. It's delicious but it has a very limited audience here.

I eat mine with brown beans on the side. you?

Salsa Verde said...

Hi Mary,
They look delicious your meatballs and the combination of asian flavours might give them a fantastic taste!
Cheers,
Lia.

cocoa and coconut said...

I love asian style food but have never tried doing entrees! Shall mark this down for later.

Sprigs of Rosemary said...

I just love meatballs. I love to make them, letting them roll between my palms. And I love finding new flavors for them. These Asian meatballs will be a great addition to my meatball arsenal.

kitchen flavours said...

The meatballs looks so delicious! I could finish a whole plate! Thank you for sharing, have a great week!

GLENDA CHILDERS said...

I enjoy Asian flavors and this looks delicious.

Hope you had a great summer, Mary.

Fondly,
Glenda

Ana Regalado said...

Mary , these meatballs look delish ! And it's easy to prepare as well :D The dressing sounds good !

http://platanosmangoes.com said...

Well you were right these look scrumptious....

Duncan D. Horne - the Kuantan blogger said...

What a lovely and fun dish! My children love meatballs!

David said...

Mary, Meatballs are among my favorite foods...and your sesame lime dipping sauce sounds like the perfect complement to these meatballs. Thanks for the inspiration! Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Tricia Buice said...

I love meatballs especially with veal and pork. The water chestnuts sound so interesting! Dipping sauce - yes please!

France@beyondthepeel said...

This is something we would absolutely go for. I would even make a double batch to freeze for fast meals later. Great recipe Mary.

teresa said...

oh YUM! i love the chestnut, i've never put those in meatballs before. love these!

What's next said...

they sound yummy! think I'll need to try them this week...

Blond Duck said...

I'm featuring your pumpkin apple bread Thursday!

Kim said...

Meatballs are always, always crowd pleasers! Love these!

We Are Not Martha said...

One of my "goals" is to make more meatballs this fall/winter. This looks like an awesome place to start... SO delicious!

Sues

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