Asian BBQ Meatballs
Speed - 95%
Simplicity - 97%
Tastiness - 100%
97%
Yummy!
These meatballs are perfectly moist and well-seasoned. The Asian BBQ Sauce is uniquely delicious. It does take a bit of extra time to reduce the sauce when the meatballs are done, as well as to brown them before entering the slow cooker but it's worth the extra few minutes to get that perfect flavor.
Ingredients
- 1/2 Kilo Ground Pork
- 1 Cup Straw Mushrooms finely chopped
- 1 Pieces Shallot finely chopped
- 3 Stalks Leeks finely chopped
- 1/3 Cup Oyster Sauce
- 1/3 Cup Hoisin Sauce
- 1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
- 1/2 Cups Catsup
- 1/2 Cup Stock Pork or Chicken
- 2 Tablespoons Sesame Oil
- 2 Tablespoons Chili Garlic Sauce
- 1 Teaspoon Chinese Five Spice
- Salt
- Pepper
- Egg Noodles
Instructions
- Sautee mushrooms, shallots, and leeks in a lightly oiled pan. Set aside to cool.
- Combine sauteed ingredients with ground pork in a bowl. Add in salt, pepper, and five-spice.
- Form the meatballs.
- Brown the meatballs lightly in a pan.
- Combine hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, catsup, sugar, chili garlic sauce, and stock in a bowl. Mix thoroughly.
- Combine mixed bbq sauce and meatballs in a slow cooker and cook for 4 hours on low.
- Add a dash of sesame oil before serving.
- Serve over egg noodles and top with chopped leeks.
Okay, so the kids want spaghetti and meatballs again, while all the adults in the house crave for something different, Asian to be specific. Easy. Please everyone with a bit of both.
Time to cook. We're using straw mushrooms, scallions, and shallots in this recipe. These elements will make the meatballs less dense and more tender to bite into. You can use any type of mushroom here, but I would suggest that you go for straw or shiitake, or even a combination of both for a more pronounced earthiness.
Take the time to chop them finely as you wouldn't want to see big chunks of these later inside your meatballs. Sautee them thoroughly in a lightly oiled pan. You may use plain vegetable oil for this, but if you happen to have peanut oil, better. That distinct nutty characteristic of peanut oil will yield so much depth of flavor in the finished dish. Sautee these ingredients well to make them release most of their natural juices, preventing them from later turning the meatballs too soggy. Adding a pinch of salt at this stage will also help extract more moisture out.
Stop cooking just before the shallots begin to caramelize. Burning them would make them bitter which will definitely affect the taste of the meatballs. Set them aside to totally cool. Adding them hot to the ground pork will start the meat cooking.
While the mushrooms are cooling, make the bbq sauce. Mix the catsup, hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, stock, and chili-garlic paste in a bowl. This would ensure that these ingredients are well-combined opposed to dumping them all in to the crockpot. Take a quick taste of the mix and adjust it to your own liking. You may want it sweeter or spicier.
When the mushrooms have cooled completely, mix them in with your ground pork. Add in salt, pepper, five-spice, and a bit of sesame oil. Go easy on the oil though. Too much fat in this mixture may result in the meatballs falling apart. A tablespoon would be just enough to lend off the aroma that we want. Below is a quick guide for seasoning ground meat.
For every kilo of meat or poultry :
- 18g salt (about a tablespoon)
- 12g pepper (about 2 tablespoons)
You may alter the amount of pepper here to your taste. The salt though is pretty much standard. To check if your seasoning is spot-on at this point, take a small portion from the mix and fry it for tasting.
Next would be to form the meatballs. I use a standard ice cream scoop to get them uniformly-sized. Not only will they look better and more professionally done, having them in identical sizes would ensure that they cook evenly.
Roll them gently into balls using your hands. Overworking them, or pressing on too hard will make these meatballs tough when cooked. Trust me, they won't fall apart.
You may add them to the slow cooker with the bbq sauce at this point to cook. If you have a bit of extra time though, browning them lightly in an oiled pan would give them a better-colored and more flavorful crust.
Cook the seared meatballs in the bbq sauce in a slow cooker for about 3-4 hours on low. When they're done, you may want to allow the cooking liquid to thicken a bit more so it'll coat the meatballs better. Transfer them to a shallow pan and heat until the cooking liquid reduces to a beautiful glaze.
I like to try out different slow cookers. This week I used a smaller slow cooker. They offer 4, 6, and 7 quart versions of the Crock-Pot Smart Pot (among other variations), but I used the 4-quart Smart Pot to cook these meatballs because I didn't need that much room. Its' very simple to operate, has a nice design, and is very inexpensive. It's still one of my favorites and was my #1 choice for small mid-priced slow cookers.
These meatballs go perfectly over fresh egg noodles. Blanch some noodles briefly in hot water, and toss it with some sesame oil. No need to season them. The bbq sauce would flavor them excellently.
Ingredients
- 1/2 Kilo Ground Pork
- 1 Cup Straw Mushrooms finely chopped
- 1 Pieces Shallot finely chopped
- 3 Stalks Leeks finely chopped
- 1/3 Cup Oyster Sauce
- 1/3 Cup Hoisin Sauce
- 1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
- 1/2 Cups Catsup
- 1/2 Cup Stock Pork or Chicken
- 2 Tablespoons Sesame Oil
- 2 Tablespoons Chili Garlic Sauce
- 1 Teaspoon Chinese Five Spice
- Salt
- Pepper
- Egg Noodles
Instructions
- Sautee mushrooms, shallots, and leeks in a lightly oiled pan. Set aside to cool.
- Combine sauteed ingredients with ground pork in a bowl. Add in salt, pepper, and five-spice.
- Form the meatballs.
- Brown the meatballs lightly in a pan.
- Combine hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, catsup, sugar, chili garlic sauce, and stock in a bowl. Mix thoroughly.
- Combine mixed bbq sauce and meatballs in a slow cooker and cook for 4 hours on low.
- Add a dash of sesame oil before serving.
- Serve over egg noodles and top with chopped leeks.
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