Vietnamese style meatballs
adapted from Authentic Vietnamese Cuisine, Corinne Trang. i made it easy on myself and used all ground meat--she started with a hunk of meat (pork solely) that was thinly sliced, marinated, then ground, then marinated some more. i added ground chicken to lighten it up a bit.
3/4 lb. ground pork
3/4 lb. ground chicken
2 shallots, finely minced
2 garlic cloves, slightly smashed but kept whole
4 tbsp. Vietnamese fish sauce
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tbsp.sugar
freshly ground black pepper
3 tbsps. potato starch
(cilantro leaves, chopped, optional)
mix shallots, garlic, fish sauce, and sugar. pour over ground meat mixture
and allow to marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour, up to 6 hours.
before grilling add potato starch and ground pepper and mix well. (top photo shows a few skewers with cilantro...husband can't stand cilantro, which i looove.)
form into 1& 1/2 inch balls and skewer into pre-soaked bamboo sticks. grill or broil about 2 minutes per side (watch closely), or until meatballs are cooked through and browned.
serve with nuoc cham or peanut dipping sauce,if desired. ( i used Maesri brand sweet chilli sauce with lemon juice and fish sauce, and garlic.)
