Who doesn’t love meat balls? The juicy meat bundled together in bite-size delight that can either be eaten on its own or with another dish; it’s satisfying no matter how you eat it. These Thai Grilled Meat Balls, in particular, will not just satisfy your taste buds, but it will take you to Thailand with each bite.
Plus, it is pretty easy to make and you will definitely get bonus points when serving it to your family and friends. There are a few variations to the recipe, this one in particular, is simple yet packed with rich flavours.
Ingredients:
(Meatballs)
- 500g of meat mince (chicken /pork / beef)
- 3 kaffir limes, finely chopped, with stem removed
- 1 tablespoon of lemongrass paste (chopped and put in blender)
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 3 Thai chillies
- 1 teaspoon of ginger paste
- ¼ cup of cilantro
- 1 teaspoon of sugar
- 1 tablespoon of fish sauce
- 1 egg
- ¾ panko bread crumbs
(Thai Sauce)
- 3 chillies, finely chopped
- 1 ime, squeezed
- 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon of sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon of honey
- 1 spring onion, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon of coriander
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
Preparation Method:
- Preheat your oven to 220°C.
- To prepare the meatballs, mix your minced meat into a large mixing bowl. Add fish sauce, garlic, lemongrass paste, finely chopped kaffir lime leaves, ginger paste, chillies, cilantro and sugar. Mix it by hand until it is fully combined.
- To bind the meatballs together, crack the egg and mix. Lastly, add in the panko bread crumbs and mix together until even.
- Spray your tray with oil and start forming your meatballs. You can opt to use hand or spoon. Make sure your meatballs are about 2cm apart from each other. The meatball size should be about 3 cm diameters in size, any bigger you would risk under-cooking your meatballs in the centre.
- Spray the meatballs with another layer of oil and let it grill in the oven for about 20 to 25 minutes until it is golden brown. There is no need to turn the meat balls over.
- To prepare the sauce, combine chilli, sesame oil, honey, coriander, lime juice, soy sauce, minced garlic and spring onion in a bowl and mix well. If you don’t like texture, you can opt to blend the sauce ingredients.
- Let the meat balls rest for about 10 minutes before serving.