Chef Benny Doro

Details

• Prep Time:
  10 min
• Cook Time:
  10 min
• Ready Time:
  20 min

Ingredients

• 2 pounds ground pork with good marbling of fat. Don’t use super lean meat it will be dry and tasteless
• 3 cloves of chopped garlic
• 3 tablespoons grated ginger
• ½ cup chopped scallions
• 4 tablespoons fish sauce and 4 tablespoons light soy sauce
• ½ cup chopped cilantro
• Chinese 5 spice powder

Dipping sauce

• ¼ cup soy sauce
• ¼ cup mirin
• 2 chopped cloves of garlic

Directions

18

Add the pork, scallions, garlic, fish sauce, soy, cilantro and ginger all together in a small bowl and mix by hand until it is all well incorporated. If you need to make any adjustments to the flavor of the meatball, like adding less garlic or more fish sauce, fry up a tester piece before forming and frying all of the meatballs. Since you can't eat raw pork, doing it this way will help you with a flavor profile that will be uniquely yours.  

I use a little bowl to measure out the exact amount of the meat so that all the meatballs are pretty much the same size, but you can use an ice cream scoop if that is easier. Roll them in your hand and make sure that the meat is packed tightly. Next, sift a few tablespoons of the Chinese 5 Spice Powder over all of the meatballs, making sure to coat them all well.

Next, add 1/3" of canola oil good vegetable oil to a medium sized skillet and heat well. I know this seems like a lot but it’s important because it will help form a nice crust on the outside while keeping the interior moist and tender. Make sure the oil is very hot, because if it is not, the meatballs will be very greasy and will steam instead of fry. Add the meatballs to the hot oil and cook them for about 2-3 minutes on the first side, and once you see that nice crust formation, turn them over to finish. Roll them around a bit to brown the other side and once they are ready, remove them from the hot oil and allow them to drain on a paper lined plate. 

To serve you can plate them anyway you like but I love to dip them in a sauce made from soy, mirin and garlic. I also love a little sweetness with the pork, so I would also add either a Thai chili sauce or some homemade mango chutney, but either works great!

Meatballs……mmmmmmmmm

Benny

Step by step in photos here >>