Description
This Thai-style meatball is versatile and delicious! Serve as an appetizer in a lettuce cup, or as a main course salad.
Ingredients
- 1 piece Ginger (1/2 Inch Size), Peeled And Minced
- 5 cloves Garlic, Minced
- 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
- ¼ cups Thai Fish Sauce
- ¼ cups Rice Vinegar
- ¼ cups Fresh Lime Juice
- 2 teaspoons Ground Cumin
- 6 Green Onions, Thinly Sliced
- ¼ teaspoons Red Chile Pepper Flakes
- ¼ teaspoons Kosher Salt
- 1 pound Ground Pork
- ⅓ cups Granulated Sugar
- 2 heads Butter Lettuce, Leaves Cleaned & Seperated
- 2 Mangos, Peeled, Pitted And Cut In 1/2″ Cubes
- 2 Persian Cucumbers, Diced
- ⅓ cups Cilantro Leaves And Stems, Chopped
- ⅓ cups Mint Leaves
Preparation
Heat oven to 400 F. Combine the first 10 ingredients (ginger through salt) in a small bowl to make sauce. Put the ground pork in another bowl. Remove half the sauce and combine it with the ground pork. Shape the pork mixture into 1 1/2″ meatballs, about the size of golf balls. Set the remaining sauce aside.
Put the sugar in a small bowl or plate and dip each meatball into the sugar to coat. Put a sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet and arrange the meatballs on the paper at least an inch apart. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Turn up the heat to 425 F and bake an additional 5 minutes to caramelize the meatballs. Remove from oven.
Place the butter lettuce leaves side-by-side on a serving platter. In each leaf put one meatball, a couple pieces each of mango and cucumber and a sprinkling of cilantro and mint. Top each meatball with a teaspoon of the reserved sauce. Or toss the meatballs, lettuce, mango, cucumbers, mint and cilantro together with the sauce for a salad.
