Asian Meatballs

A while ago, Blog is the New Black had a guest post from Innocent Indulgences for Asian Meatballs.  Shortly thereafter, when I was at a loss for what to make for a weeknight meal, I stumbled across this dish - problem solved.

Asian Meatballs

This meatball is very adaptable, but I stuck to the inspiration recipe.  Here are the main necessities...

• 1 lb. of lean ground beef
• 4 cups of panko breadcrumbs
• 2 egg whites
• 1 tbsp. of low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tsp. of garlic powder
• 2 tbsp. of chopped, fresh, cilantro
• 1 tsp. of fresh, grated ginger
• a dash of sriracha

The Ingredients

To begin I added all of the ingredients except the panko and eggs to a large bowl...

Meat, herbs and spices!

Using my hands I went to town mixing, making sure that all the ingredients were nicely incorporated into the meat evenly.  I saw on the Food Network that you should not really over-handle the meat, so I tried my best to mix with as little touching as possible.  Once it was all mixed together, I added the panko.  I should have added the panko a little at a time because the 4 cups was too much...

Too Much Panko...

When the panko was fully integrated I rolled them into balls and placed them on a baking sheet.  In order to make sure they crisped up a bit during the cooking I brushed the tops with the egg whites.  I then popped the baking sheet into a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes.

Panko Heavy Meatballs!

While the meatballs were cooking I started in on the sauce by adapting the inspiration...

• 1/2 cup of low sodium soy sauce
• 1/3 cup of balsamic vinegar
• 1 cup of brown sugar
• 4 tbsp. of grapeseed oil
• 1 tsp. of grated ginger
• 1 tsp. chili oil
• 1 tbsp. honey
• Chopped peanuts

Sauce Stuff...

To begin, I added the vinegar, chili oil, grapeseed oil, soy sauce and ginger to a pot over medium heat.

Sauce

After a couple of minutes, I whisked in the brown sugar, brought the pot to a boil and then turned down the heat to let the sauce simmer for about 10 minutes.

Simmering Sauce

After 10 minutes, I added the honey...I seem to add it to all Asian sauces I make at home.  It could be I just like using the bear....

Honey

Right as the sauce finished up, the meatballs were done...and you can see I used way too much panko.

Overly Panko'ed Meatballs

The sauce really helped rectify the panko situation.  I dumped a whole lot of the sauce on the meatballs after I plated them over some brown rice.  The final touch to the dish was some chopped peanuts sprinkled over the top.

Asian Meatballs

The meatballs came together fairly well even with the panko situation!  It was a nice and easy weekday meal. I think there are tons of ways to really play with this recipe and make it your own.  I definitely plan on revisiting this dish (with a lot less panko!) and seeing how I can mix it up.

Where do you get weekday meal inspiration?