My local supermarket had some pork meatballs reduced. I ended up pulling them apart, adding spices and rolling them up again. Pork mince would be better but both work in the end. The meatballs were tasty and went really well with the sharp dip. The pickled veg in the salad really cut through the fatty spicy pork meatballs. The veggies are quickly pickled in the same liquid that makes the dipping sauce – easy peasy.
Serves: 2
Cooking Time: 30 mins
Ingredients
For the Meatballs
- 12 pork meatballs or 400g pork mince
- Chopped coriander – 2 tbs
- 1 chilli – finely chopped
- Zest of 1 lime
- Garlic – 4 cloves, crushed with a pinch of salt flakes
- Fish sauce – 2 tsp
- Runny honey
- Soy sauce
For the Dipping Sauce/ Pickling liquid
- Fish sauce – 80ml
- Rice vinegar – 100 ml
- Caster sugar – 1 tbs (dissolved in a small amount of warm water)
- Juice 2 limes
Salad
- Baby gem lettuce
- 12 radishes, finely sliced
- 2 carrots, finely sliced (julienned)
- Mint leaves
Method
First make the pickling liquid. Dissolve the caster sugar in warm water and add it to the fish sauce, rice vinegar and lime juice. Slice the veggies as finely as you can and add to the pickling liquid.
Next, finely chop the garlic and sprinkle with a pinch of salt flakes. Using the back of a knife work the salt into the garlic to form a paste. The salt breaks down the garlic structure and helps release the flavours. Chop the chilli and coriander and add to the pork mince and garlic. Finally, add the fish sauce and lime zest, combine well and roll into 12 equally sized balls.
Heat a little oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and when hot add the meatballs. Cook for 3-4 minutes on all sides. Halfway through cooking drizzle a decent amount of runny honey and soy sauce over the meatballs. This gives the meatballs a lovely sticky-sweet glaze.
Assemble the salad, you don’t need to dry the veggies, even use the pickling liquid as a dressing. The pickling liquid makes a great dipping sauce for the meatballs. Enjoy
