I had been looking for a good appetizer to bring to a party, and several people recommended meatballs. Asian appetizer meatballs sounded more appealing to me than Italian or any other kind, so that is what I decided to make. I couldn’t find a single recipe that sold me 100%, so I decided to make my own.
This recipe is actually a combination of several recipes. I just took what I liked about each one and put them together. The end result turned out a lot better than I had hoped. I love the taste of these meatballs. Hopefully, you will too.
Gather all of your ingredients before you begin. I used a microplane grater to grate my ginger, but you can mince it if you want. Chop your scallions. Mince your garlic. When, throw all of the meatball ingredients into a large bowl and combine.
If you have kitchen gloves, this is a good time to use them. I sprayed them lightly with oil before getting started. This helped to keep the meat mixture from sticking. Mush the meat mixture together until just combined. Do not work it too much or it may affect the texture of the meatballs. When it’s nicely combined, form them into small, appetizer-sized balls. I used a cookie scooper to help them stay uniform.
Bake the meatballs on a foil or parchment lined baking sheet for 10-15 minutes. While the meatballs are baking, you can start your sauce.
If you have a wok or a stir-fry pan, this is a good use for it. Otherwise, a skillet works fine.
Heat the sauce ingredients in your pan over medium-high heat. When it starts to bubble (but not boil), reduce the heat to medium and stir in a cornstarch slurry. Do this little by little, until your sauce is as thick as you want it. Add the meatballs, then stir until coated. If the coating looks a little thin, you can try to increase the heat or add more cornstarch slurry until the sauce thickens enough to coat the meatballs.
When you’re satisfied with how coated the meatballs are, remove them from the heat. I threw in some chopped scallions at this point, but you don’t have to.
You can serve these in a pretty bowl, or in a crock pot to keep them warm. Either way, they will be delicious!
Asian Appetizer Meatballs
Ingredients
For the meatballs:
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
- 2-3 cloves garlic
- 2 scallions, finely chopped
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp sesame oil
For the sauce:
- 3/4 cup water, divided
- 2/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp chili paste
- 1/2 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
- 1/2 tbsp garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- chopped scallions for garnish (optional)
Directions
Make the meatballs:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.
Combine all of the meatball ingredients together in a large bowl. Be careful not to overwork the mixture. Take about 2tbsp at a time and roll into balls (I used a medium cookie scoop). Arrange on the lined baking sheet, leaving some space in between each meatball.
Bake for 10-15 minutes, until meatballs are browned.
Make the sauce:
In a stir fry pan or skillet, combine 1/2 water, soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, chili paste, ginger, and garlic. In a small bowl, combine the remaining water and the cornstarch. Stir to combine, then set aside.
Heat the soy sauce mixture in the pan over medium to medium-high heat until the mixture is about to come to a boil. Reduce the heat and stir in the cornstarch mixture, a little bit at a time, until the sauce is the desired thickness.
Add the meatballs and stir to coat. Continue to cook until the sauce thickens and thickly coats the meatballs. Remove from heat. Serve hot and garnish with chopped scallions, if desired.
Makes about 4 dozen bite-sized meatballs